A Tale of Two Sisters
by Helena Clara Bouchet
Summary: This is an alternate universe story where Angelique is Andre DuPres' legitimate daughter and Josette is the annoying, little sister. How will their lives differ in Collinwood? Most importantly, which one does Barnabas marry? Disclaimer: I own nothing of Dark Shadows, ABC network, Dan Curtis Productions, or the characters associated with them (except the ones I created). :)
1. Chapter 1

Chapter 1

On the beautiful island of Martinique, many years ago, lived a French Creole family by the name of DuPres. Andre DuPres, one of the island's most prosperous plantation owners, was a widower of two, attractive daughters with very different personalities. The oldest, Angelique DuPres, had piercing blue eyes and straw-colored hair, and was groomed to manage a household by both Andre and his spinster sister, Countess Natalie DuPres, who lived with them after his wife died. Angelique was a quiet, intuitive, and serious young lady. She wasn't what her father had expected at birth, meaning that she wasn't the son he wanted, leading him to have a sort of civil relationship with her while he spoiled her sister, Josette, rotten. He involved Angelique in his business affairs, mainly explaining the cropping cycles, harvest times, and teaching her to manage the accounts for crops bought and sold from their plantation. Unlike her father, Angelique was not indifferent to the sufferings of the slaves her family owned, but she had to keep her mouth shut and look the other way. However, what her father was unaware of was that she also 'looked the other way' when one or two slaves escaped in the night, praying for their safe journey. If they were caught and brought back, she would beg her father to have mercy upon them, sometimes to no avail. She could only do what she could.

Her younger sister, Josette DuPres, was two years her junior and Angelique's complete opposite. She had reddish-brown hair, big brown eyes, and was frivolous. She cared for no one's interests but her own selfish tendencies, was careless, superficial, and threw enormous tantrums when she didn't get her way. Since she was Andre's favorite, there would usually be constant bickering between Angelique, Andre, and Natalie, and especially between Angelique and Josette. The most controversy topic of their arguments was Josette's naughty habit of stealing Angelique's personal property like parasols, jewelry, and if it happens to fit, her older sister's dresses and shoes. Because she would put on the innocent look to her father, and claimed to have to want it so much that she would die if she doesn't have it, Andre would allow Josette to keep them, and promise Angelique replacements. Other times when Josette would 'accidentally' break Angelique's prized figurines, Josette would claim that she didn't mean to break them, leading Andre to pat the dubious child on her head, assuring her that Angelique would forgive her. Usually, Angelique's forgiveness would be followed by a fiery glare while Josette would look triumphant behind their father's back. There was also a time when there was a dog that Angelique had wanted, but Josette ended up getting it instead. One day, the girl hit the dog with her parasol repeatedly, causing the abused animal to bite her hand. She cried to her father, who shot the poor dog dead in the side, enraging Angelique, who defended the creature's actions. Andre dismissed her pleas, and told her that the dog was a menace, and deserved to die.

The only ally that Angelique had was her Aunt Natalie, who would comfort the girl by telling her that Josette's comeuppance will arrive one day. Although Angelique was comforted by that, she still prayed to God, "How long?" whenever Josette had claimed or broken another one of her possessions. Yet, that was how things continued for a long time: Josette took and destroyed something of Angelique's, and Andre excused it, always finishing with some barely-placated offering.

But when they got older, Angelique being twenty-three and Josette being twenty-one, things for Angelique began to change a little. While Josette was surrounded by various suitors, Angelique was courted by a handsome, generous, son of a local jeweler named Georges DuBois. Unlike the other young men who courted her, Georges was sensitive, thoughtful, attentive, and sympathetic to her plight with her sister. Josette called him a bore and Andre thought that Angelique should choose a plantation owner to marry. However, Angelique, like her aunt, followed her own mind and heart, with Natalie's support, inheriting her aunt's free spirit. When the young man asked for her hand, Andre gave his blessings since he patronized his family's business, and Angelique didn't hesitate to say yes. She was so blissfully happy that she thought that no one, not even Josette, or anything could ruin her happiness. She was going to marry the man with whom she was madly in love, and finally have her own household without Josette's constant interferences. Unfortunately, even he was taken from her. Not by Josette, but by Death.

On her wedding day, the DuPres and DuBois families waited outside the chapel for the groom, who was late for his own wedding. His parents told the bride's father that he had some important business to look after, and would arrive as soon as possible. Yet, as both families were becoming impatient and irritably hot on that summer afternoon, a passerby hurriedly rode up on his horse to the DuBois family. The man jumped down from his steed and alarmingly grabbed Monsieur DuBois by his arms, speaking incoherently. The DuPres knew that something was wrong when Madame DuBois fell to the ground, wailing sorrowfully. Angelique shook her head, denying to herself that something had befallen her fiancé. Andre ran over to the screaming family to find out what happened. As soon as Monsieur DuBois left in his carriage with the passerby, leaving his wife in his brother's care, Andre walked back to his family slowly, his head hanging as though he was carrying a heavy burden to unload upon his daughter. He stood before her, gathering what he was going to say.

"Angelique, _ma cherie_, Georges' carriage ran off the road into a ditch. He is dead."

Whether it was from the heat, the shock of the news, or both, the bride fell forward into her father's arms, unconscious. While Andre and Natalie tried to revive her, Josette, turned from the wedding party, gave a secretive smirk at her own sister's expense.

For the next two months, Angelique secluded herself in her bedroom, even taking her meals there. If any visitor or a DuBois family member came by to visit, they would have to leave messages, cards, and flowers with Natalie. Then one day, her father knocked on her door.

She slightly turned in her chair. "Come in."

When Andre came inside, he saw his daughter sitting in front of the window, wearing a black gown and hair neatly coiffed, staring bitterly into the beautiful mountain scenery multi-colored waters from the setting sun.

He closed the door behind him. "Angelique?"

"Papa," she numbly answered.

"Don't you think that it's time to come out of this mourning, and out of your room?"

"You didn't come out of your room for months after _Maman_ died, Papa. How could you ask me to do that sort of thing?"

"Because you were not his widow, Angelique," he answered, agitated.

"I feel like a widow, monsieur," she said, dryly. "I know that he wasn't my husband, but he was my true love, something you should know personally."

Struck to the core, Andre lowered his head, his hands clasped behind his back, and walked towards his grieving daughter. He stood next to her chair, looking out the window with Angelique, unable to look at her.

"Angelique, do you remember Barnabas and Jeremiah Collins? The gentlemen from America?"

How could she forget? It's been two years since they last set foot in her home, on the island's soil. Because of some sort of business arrangement that was unbeknownst to Angelique, Andre DuPres had arranged for the Collins gentlemen to spend six months as guests in his plantation home so that Barnabas could tutor his daughters in the English language while Jeremiah monitored his progress, by order of the Collins' patriarch, Joshua Collins, and discuss whatever contracts the businessmen agreed upon. At the end of that time period, both sisters were able to show proficiency in speaking and writing in the new language. However, as noted by their language tutor, Angelique was starved for more knowledge of this universal language. She usually sought Barnabas' help while searching for words to express herself and those when it concerned finances and crops. Also, she wanted to surprise Georges at the time by writing him a love letter in English since he was more skilled in it than her.

Angelique saw Barnabas as her advantage for learning, but was annoyed that her younger sister had developed an infatuation for him, and she noticed that he would reciprocate with light flirtation. To Angelique, Barnabas was a sophisticated, handsome, cultured gentleman, but she sensed that he relished his status as, as he once taught her the phrase, 'the cream of the crop' in his social circle, which automatically made him uninteresting. Especially the way he held up his chin higher than her father's snobbish friends and associates.

Jeremiah Collins was different. He was a visionary gentleman and an aspiring architect, filled with ideas and a curiosity for how her home and other buildings were put together. She knew that if he could, he would have been outside analyzing the columns that held up her home every day from sunup to sundown. When he would sit through an hour of watching his nephew teach Angelique and Josette, the older sister would catch him, from the corner of her eye, nodding off, and then catching himself with a start, making her smile with amusement. She sympathized with him for sitting through a lecture of a language that he already knew. She found herself entirely drawn to him.

One afternoon, while coming out unto the porch, Angelique caught Jeremiah caressing the banister and columns of the porch, carried away by his thoughts.

"The banister was constructed from iron," she said, startling him. "And the columns are made from the whitest of marble."

He smiled. "I know." He continued to caress the columns. "This is a magnificent house, mademoiselle."

Angelique nodded a thank-you. "My great-grandfather had this house built on the backs of his slaves. I find it very distasteful."

"But this is your home, mademoiselle," said Jeremiah, coming up the marble steps.

"It doesn't mean that I have to like it. I long for the day in which I may become mistress of my own home, able to do as I want and to run my home as I please."

He stood in front of her, staring into her narrowed blue eyes. "I believe that I can empathize with you."

"I don't understand monsieur."

"I mean that I understand how you feel."

Angelique raised her eyebrow. "Oh? How could you understand, monsieur?"

He answered, "Because I long to have my own home again."

"Again?" she questioned, showing him a seat on the porch. They both sat down together.

"Yes," he said. "You see, mademoiselle, I recently lost my wife a year ago. I built her a two-story home as a wedding present for her. It wasn't as grand as my brother's home, but it was _our_ home. We loved each other dearly."

"I am sorry for your loss, monsieur," said Angelique, quietly. "May I ask what was her name?"

"Laura," replied he. "Her name was Laura. She died when our home burned down."

Angelique gasped, covering her mouth. "Oh, monsieur! That's horrible! I'm sorry for asking you about her. It must be awful to remember such a thing!"

Jeremiah looked straight ahead, his eyes watering. "Thank you. I-I wasn't at home at the time, and she was seriously ill. I'm not sure how the fire started, but by the time I got home, the whole house collapsed from the flames. I shouldn't had left her alone, and I wouldn't had if my brother did not insist that I go over plans for his new storage house and… well, the rest is history. I still blame myself for her death."

"But it wasn't your fault, monsieur," pleaded Angelique. "You couldn't have known."

"But she was ill, mademoiselle! I should have stayed, waited until morning!" he protested. Then realizing his tone, he apologized. "I am sorry. I-I shouldn't had raised my voice at you. It wasn't right. It should have been me."

Angelique replied, "Don't talk that way, monsieur. I shall say a prayer for you tonight before I go to bed."

Jeremiah turned to her, chuckling bitterly. "I haven't heard anyone say that they would pray for me since…forever. My sister, Abigail, prayed for me every day. Now, she's married to some minister, and is traveling all over New England 'preaching the good word of God'.

"You sound as if you don't believe in God."

"I do believe in God, mademoiselle. But If He cared, why didn't He save Laura?"

Noting the resentment in his voice, Angelique sighed. "None of us can know God's purpose for how things turn out in our lives, but we have to trust that He works for our good."

"You are naïve, mademoiselle," he said, flatly.

"Monsieur, I do believe that He does so. Just like I believe that He'll bring me out of this house one day. I often wished that I was not my father's daughter because he doesn't love me. He seems to prefer my sister over me."

Surprised that Angelique felt that way, Jeremiah said, "I'm sure he does love you, mademoiselle. You're intelligent, kind, sweet, and incredibly beautiful-"

"What was that you said, monsieur?" asked Angelique, not sure if she heard him correctly.

He looked determinedly into her eyes. "I said that you are incredibly beautiful, mademoiselle."

Angelique looked down at her folded hands. "I'm spoken for."

"I forgot," said Jeremiah, disappointed, looking away. "Anyway, I'm sure that your father does love you."

"If _that_ was true, why does he spoil Josette rotten? Why does he let her get away with stealing my belongings and my father telling me that he'll replace what she stolen, instead of making her give them back to me?" She bitterly smirked. "She had always been his 'golden child'."

Jeremiah mused. "I can say the same for my nephew."

Angelique smiled. "I still could hardly believe that he is your nephew and not your brother. You are so close in age to each other!"

"Sometimes it happens that way. I often envy him because he'll be lord and master over Collinwood someday, and I'll be his dependent. Unless I can get established as a prominent architect."

"I believe that you can do it," encouraged Angelique. "You Collins men seem to be the ambitious type. You can achieve anything you want and gain what you most desire."

His brown eyes burrowed into hers. "Not…everything."

They sat quietly until he spoke. "I appreciate your faith in me. I always thought that both you and Mademoiselle Josette had an infatuation for Barnabas."

"Why would you think that?" she asked, curious.

"In New England, he is quite popular with the ladies of all stations of life. He has some sort of… charismatic charm, so to speak, in which he's able to draw them all to himself. I never knew a woman who didn't take a second look at him."

"Well, monsieur, Josette is impressionable, but I am not."

"I've noticed," he said, softly.

Angelique's heart leapt within her. Although her heart was with Georges, she felt a kinship with this man, understanding his feelings towards his nephew and his desire to be his own man. They talked and laughed until dinner, coming to the point of being on a first-name basis, and finding themselves clasping hands, bonded by their shared hurt and being overshadowed by their respective relatives.

Yet, from around the corner of the porch, Barnabas Collins watched their interaction, unnoticed. He was amazed to find that Mademoiselle Angelique could be light-hearted, easy-going, and able to trade compliments. But with his uncle, not him. What was wrong with him? He tried to be friendly with the her, but Angelique would not respond to him in the manner he expected. She would respond with a straight face, followed by a pleasant 'thank-you.' He had no problems in charming her younger sister and was becoming more enamored with Josette by the moment. Yet, in spite of himself, Barnabas Collins was also becoming more intrigued with the blonde enigma known as Angelique DuPres.


	2. Chapter 2

"Well, Papa, why do you ask about Monsieurs Barnabas and Jeremiah?"

Andre maintained his stance as he said, "The Collins uncle and nephew are to arrive next spring."

Angelique looked up at her father. "For business? Contracts to be bargained over or renewed?"

Andre exhaled and walked to the middle of his daughter's room, his back turned to her. Angelique rose and faced her father's back, burning a hole in it as she waited for his answer. Something was off about his demeanor, but what? If it was just business-related, he would have told her. Yet, there was something else, something that she knew that she would not like.

"As you know, Angelique, we were blessed with bountiful crops this year. Yet, Joshua Collins, our reliable exporter, had had some trouble over the past season."

"What kind of trouble?" asked Angelique.

Andre answered, "He lost six ships on the seas due to the weather and piracy, and it is up to our family to save them ruin."

"I'm sorry to hear that, Papa, but why would Barnabas and Jeremiah Collins come to us with their losses?"

"I, or rather we, need the Collins' ships for our exportations, Angelique. The other exporters don't offer the same price or benefits as the Collins' enterprise does. You see, Monsieur Collins and I had been corresponding for the past three months, concerning our surpluses and his losses of his ships. He doesn't have the current funds to replace his ships, and he can't divert money from his fishing industry. Also, we need our crops to be shipped to the Americas, to other islands, Europe-"

"Papa," interrupted Angelique, arms folded, "What are you trying to tell me?"

Andre took a breath and blurted, "Monsieur Collins and I had decided that it would be appropriate to arrange a marriage between Barnabas Collins and your sister Josette, and you and Jeremiah Collins."

Angelique's face dropped, as well as her arms, releasing the black silk handkerchief that she used to dry the tears she shed over Georges. Her bright, blue eyes darkened, smoldering with rage at her father's insensitivity to her mourning.

"No!" she screamed. "How could you put me in this arrangement, Papa?"

Andre, unfazed by Angelique's mood, turned to her, composed. "Josette's dowry will not cover the full costs of the repairs, but yours, in addition to your inheritance from your maternal grandfather will cover the rest and beyond. Besides, I thought that you would had jumped at the chance to marry Jeremiah. You two seemed to be fond of each other the last time he was here."

"I _am_ fond of Jeremiah, Papa, but Georges' body is barely cold in his grave. Do you realize that it's been two months since then? Can I not properly mourn for the man I loved, without you shoving me down the aisle to marry another man?"

"I understand, Angelique," said Andre, "but you are still alive, you are young, and you are fertile. You shouldn't waste those qualities on a dead man!"

"Papa!" Angelique covered her mouth and then crossed herself.

Andre sighed. "I apologize, _ma cherie_, but you know that everything I said is true. You're almost twenty-four years old, and you should marry immediately while you still have a chance. Your and Josette's matches are vital to our and the Collins' households."

"That is your and Josette's business, Papa. Not mine," she stated, callously.

"And yours," reminded Andre. "How could you behave this way, my dear? What about your sister? Our livelihood? Your mother' memory of kindness and charity?"

Angelique stormed up to him. "Don't you dare bring my mother into this to make me dishonor Georges!"

Andre glared at her, which made her take a few steps back. Afterwards, his face softened.

"And what about the Collins family? Would you want them to be ruined? Would you allow Jeremiah Collins to suffer harder times than his family because you refuse to save them all from destitution?"

Andre watched her reaction, which satisfied him when he saw her concern when he mentioned Jeremiah's lot in this situation.

"Harder times?" asked Angelique, raising an eyebrow and folding her arms again.

Andre nodded. "Yes, my pet. Jeremiah had annoyed his brother by not marrying a cousin of theirs, Millicent, I think that was her name, and by not showing dedication to their businesses."

"But he doesn't have to, Papa. He is a talented architect, and with the right connections, he can prosper on his own."

"I'm not finished, girl! Joshua Collins is considering throwing his own flesh and blood out into the streets unless he either marries a worthy heiress, which is you, or take his place in the Collins shipping and fishing empires. As to your defense of him being a 'talented architect,' he has no prospective clients at this time, except his brother. Are you aware that Jeremiah was commissioned by Monsieur Collins to build a new mansion for him?"

Angelique shook her head. "I haven't written to him since informing him of my engagement to Georges."

"Well, he is, and his reputation as an architect depends on how satisfied his brother is with the finished product."

"When will Jeremiah finish the mansion?" asked Angelique, blanketed by fear for Jeremiah's livelihood.

"I read that it is to be finished before next winter. However, if Jeremiah fails, then he is ruined entirely, with nothing or no family to fall back upon."

Angelique turned back to the picture window, bracing her hands on the window sill, watching the majority of the sun setting below the horizon. She closed her eyes, tears flowing freely down her pale face. She didn't want to get married so soon, let alone consider the possibility of it. Yet, she didn't want Jeremiah's dream of being an architect to come to naught. Two years ago, after he and Barnabas left Martinique, she found that she cared for Jeremiah, despite the fact that she was falling in love with Georges DuBois. In Jeremiah's Christmas letter to her, he confessed to caring about her more than he did other women. He never said that he loved her, and she never said it in return either (mainly due to Georges). Angelique summed their relationship into a meaningful infatuation. But the thought of Jeremiah not being able to pursue his goal frightened her. She didn't know why, but she was afraid for his future, afraid of what would come to be if she didn't step in to help him. She may not have loved him, but why should he suffer more losses and failures, after doing so with his late wife Laura? She planted it in her mind to do what she must for her former confidante.

"Angelique?" said Andre, realizing his daughter was not paying any attention to him by her prolonged silence.

Startled, she wiped her face with her sleeve, forgetting about the handkerchief on the floor, turned to her father. "_Oui?_"

"I said that only you can save Jeremiah and his family from ruin by being his wife. You two care for each other, and that's enough. You don't have to love him, just be a good companion to him and a good mother to his children. Now, dear Angelique, will you take up this course for Jeremiah and his family if not for yourself and our family?"

Angelique walked up to her father, stared him straight in the eye, and extended her hand. "Alright, Papa. I shall marry Jeremiah…to save him and his family from ruin. And to show my word of honor, I extend my hand to you, for my word is my bond."

Andre gladly took Angelique's hand and shook it. "Excellent, my child! I'm glad that you saw reason. Rest assure that you are doing the right thing for everyone involved."

With a nod, he turned and closed the door behind him when he left. Realizing that she had willing betrayed Georges' memory, she jumped into her bed, weeping, asking God to forgive her for her deed.


	3. Chapter 3 (Spring 1795)

The masculine, elegantly-crafted coach of the Collins men arrived in front of the DuPres' magnificent estate after three o'clock in the afternoon. The male house slaves quickly retrieved the houseguests' trunks as the DuPres sisters, dressed in their best gowns and looking deliciously presentable, waited on the walkway for their respective fiancés. According to their father, Barnabas and Jeremiah were to stay for a month to reacquaint themselves with their prospective brides. Afterwards, the men will return to New England to prepare Collinwood for them, and the DuPres family will arrive in Collinsport in early autumn, a few months before the new house is ready. It was also agreed that Josette and Barnabas would marry first although Countess Natalie argued that it was more appropriate for Angelique and Jeremiah to marry first since Angelique was the oldest. Yet, as usual, Josette got her way. Angelique didn't harbor upon her father's decision since she knew how it would turn out in the first place.

When the Collins gentlemen exited the coach, they hurriedly greeted their brides and joined them inside the house to pay respects to Andre and Natalie. Once the guests were settled, the matched couples had broken off to other parts of the plantation to spend quality time together: Barnabas and Josette chose the gazebo while Jeremiah and Angelique chose the porch, the place where they first bonded.

While they affectionately joined hands, Jeremiah said, "I am sorry about Georges."

"Jeremiah," said Angelique, "you already gave me your condolences months ago when we started writing to each other again."

"I know, but I needed to say it in person," he explained. "Are you sure that you want to marry me? You recall how I told you about my grief over Laura. It's not easy getting over the one you loved."

"I am aware of that as you are, but we are doing this for our families' sakes," said Angelique. She coyly looked into his eyes. "Do you want… to marry me, Jeremiah?"

"Would I offend you if I said that I wanted to marry you since we first conversed?"

"Really?" she asked, hardly surprised.

"Angelique, remember when I used to write to you before your engagement, and told you that I cared about you? It was true. I thought of no other woman but you. It surprised me since I never thought that I could want anyone else but Laura, but now all of that has changed. I will never forget her, Angelique, but I am hopelessly in love with you, and will love you for the rest of my life. Even if you only consider me a…_worthy_ companion."

Angelique gave him a bright smile. "That is sweet of you to say, Jeremiah, and I am sure that one day I shall come to love you in return. Hopefully, before I take my vows as your wife."

Before she knew it, Jeremiah leaned in and kissed her. When he pulled away, they both laughed and kissed each other again, longer this time.

Meanwhile, at the gazebo, Barnabas and Josette were sitting cozily together as they chatted about their future together.

"Oh, Barnabas_, mon amour_, I am so excited about our new life together!" exclaimed Josette.

"So am I, my dear, so am I," replied Barnabas. "You will be the most beautiful mistress of Collinwood ever. That is, after my mother, of course."

"Do you think she will like me?" asked Josette, frowning.

"Of course she will! I told her all about you. Mother longs to meet you. I think that the only person you would have to worry about is my father. He isn't as affectionate as the rest of us."

"Oh."

Josette returned her attention to the ruby ring that Barnabas bought her from New England. It also came with a matching pair of earbobs, replacing a pair of emerald ones for that came from another suitor, but she was wise to keep that information to herself.

She took out a folded piece of paper from nowhere, unfolded it, and said, "Barnabas, darling, I have made a list of items that I wish for you to have in my room at Collinwood." She began reading off the items on her list. "I require a canopied bed, the walls painted lavender, lavender curtains, lace curtains…"

As Josette rambled on about her requirements for her residency at Collinwood, Barnabas was distracted by the lovely, but sickening scene in his mind, on the porch between his uncle and his fiancee's sister. For some reason that mystified him, Barnabas felt a sort of indignation towards Jeremiah and Angelique. Especially Angelique. To watch her with Jeremiah caused him to fume inwardly. He was jealous of their bond. Although he loved Josette and was devoted to her and her wishes, this woman, Angelique DuPres, whom Josette often referred to as 'Angelique the Prude,' kept interfering with his peace of mind. It was already enough that Jeremiah must always compliment Angelique's goodness, kindness, sweetness, piety, but to now kiss her in the open?

_Ha! For a prude, she's obviously enjoying being openly kissed_, he thought.

Barnabas, afterwards, dropped his fury like a hot potato.

_What was I thinking? Surely, Jeremiah deserves to be as happy as I am. Why do I feel such hostility against Angelique? For goodness' sake, she's going to be his relative! She is exactly what Jeremiah needs: a companion and comforter. And in return, she needs him to comfort her. Both of them lost someone that they loved, and I am fortunate to not have lost anyone. I hope that I do not lose Josette tragically as they lost their loves. Yes, my Josette is demanding and spoiled, but she is a good person deep down. I am confident that she would evolve into the kind of wife that I want her to be, even if it means denying her a few of her wants._

"Barnabas! Are you listening to me?" demanded Josette, annoyed.

Barnabas found himself so distracted by the couple on the porch that he didn't realize that Josette had stopped speaking. He turned to her, smiling sheepishly. "Uh… yes, Josette. I was just memorizing everything you requested in my mind."

"You could have easily asked for my list. This is only a copy," she said, giving him the paper. He took it, refolded it, and put it inside his coat pocket.

"Thank you, _cherie_. Your list will be helpful in designing your room."

He looked back over at Jeremiah and Angelique. "I admire how close Jeremiah and Angelique are towards each other. They look like the perfect couple, don't you think?"

Josette looked at her sister and her future uncle/ brother-in-law on the porch and shrugged. "That's nice."

"Are you not happy for your sister, Josette? Considering that she seemed to have recovered from losing her first fiancé?" asked Barnabas, raising his eyebrow.

"What I am happy about, Barnabas dear, is that now she can stop mewing over a corpse. It's about time anyway. Everyone, including Papa, was getting tired of it," she bluntly stated.

Barnabas stared at his fiancée for a moment before returning his gaze upon Angelique and Jeremiah, who were now entering the house, hand-in-hand.

By the close of the month, the engagements of the DuPres sisters and Collins men were firmly established. Once the news had spread throughout the island's high-class society, the first amongst many to congratulate the women and their betroths were Georges' parents. During their visit, Monsieur and Madame DuBois had given the sisters a set of jewelry and gemstones as early wedding presents. They also liked the Collinses, and hoped that the young women, especially Angelique, would find happiness in their new lives. Before dinner, Angelique went to her room to change when she encountered Josette at her vanity, modeling herself in the mirror.

Arms folded and eyebrow cocked, Angelique asked, "May I help you, Josette?"

Josette turned to her sister, smiling. "I was only seeing how my new pair of earbobs looked on me, and, if I may add, they looked quite elegant."

She pulled back her auburn curls to reveal a dazzling pair of diamond earbobs, Angelique's diamond earbobs, inset in gold.

Angelique's eyes blazed with blue fire. "Take them off! You have no right to whatever Georges gave to me!"

"Why should I remove them? Georges is dead, and a dead man would not care what happened to a pair of earbobs. And furthermore, you're engaged. There's no reason for you to keep them."

"He gave them to me as my engagement present. They're all I have left of him," retorted Angelique.

"Do you think that Jeremiah would want you to keep your dead fiancé's gifts?" Josette countered sharply, her hands on her hips.

"Jeremiah understands my feelings for Georges, just as I understood his feelings for Laura, his deceased wife."

"How pathetic for the both of you! Well, I can see both of your futures now: husband and wife mourning over previous loves of the past." Josette's sarcasm was making Angelique's blue orbs of fire intense. "Now if you will excuse me, I am going to impress Barnabas with my new earbobs."

Angelique blocked Josette's exit. "You're not leaving until you give me _my_ earbobs."

"You don't need them, Angelique. Besides, just who do you intend to wear them for? Georges' ghost or Jeremiah's penniless carcass?"

Angelique's eyes narrowed as she gritted her teeth. "I'm warning you, Josette."

"I'm not going to give them back. They look better on me than you anyway."

Angelique inched closer to her sister, who didn't back down. "Give…me…my…earbobs. Now!"

"I won't! Even Papa will think that they look better on me. I always get my way and you know it!"

Josette moved around Angelique, but the oldest sister caught her by her arm, digging her nails into the young woman's flesh.

"I said now!"

"No!" yelled Josette.

Instantly, Angelique threw Josette against her writing desk. Once she recovered herself, Josette lunged at Angelique, her hands like eagle claws, going for her face. Luckily for Angelique, she grabbed Josette by her wrists, and somehow, the sisters ended up on the floor, wrestling, Angelique being the dominant foe.

"Give them to me before I rip them from your ears!"

"Help! Someone help! Angelique is trying to kill me! Help!"

"I'm not going to kill you yet, you selfish cow, unless you give them back!"

Natalie, who was exiting her bedroom, heard the commotion and called downstairs to her brother and her future nephews. She quickly ran to Angelique's room, and tried to separate them.

"Both of you, stop it!" demanded the middle-aged noble woman. "Angelique, let her go this minute!"

Jeremiah reached the room first and quickly grabbed Angelique as Natalie pried the woman's hands from Josette's throat. Barnabas entered next, followed by Andre, both bewildered and shocked at what was happening.

"What is the meaning of this?!" bellowed Andre, standing between his daughters. "Haven't the both of you any shame? To fight like alley cats while your fiancés are waiting for you downstairs?"

"She started it!" accused Josette, holding her throat and pointing at Angelique. "I wanted to leave, but Angelique blocked the door and attacked me."

"Liar!" screamed Angelique. "She was stealing the earbobs Georges gave me. They're all I have left of him, Papa!"

"Why does she need them, Papa?" questioned Josette. "He's dead, which means that they should no longer matter to her."

"Enough!" growled Andre.

His daughters panted from their anger and physical altercation as the Collins men and Natalie waited for the patriarch's next course of action.

He turned to Angelique. "Angelique, you shouldn't have attacked your sister over those wretched earbobs!"

"But—but-" stammered Angelique, horribly shock. Natalie felt for her niece as she saw the beginning of another victory for Josette.

"No 'buts,' interrupted Andre. "You should have known better, being the oldest."

Josette smirked, but wiped it off her face when she saw that Andre was not amused by her as well. He extended his opened palm. "Give me the earbobs, Josette."

Josette's face dropped as she slowly covered her ears. "No, no, Papa. She doesn't need them anymore. Besides if you see, you'll agree that they look better on me-"

"I don't care if they look better on you or worse on your sister, Josette. They were a gift from Georges, God rest his soul, which means that they are off limits to you and everyone else, except Angelique. You were wrong to claim them for yourself. They are not for you to have. If you want earbobs like them, then we will go to Monsieur DuBois' shop to buy a similar set. If you want, you may go with Barnabas. You are a young lady now and a DuPres. The both of you." He looked back and forth at his daughters. "It's time for the both of you, especially you, Josette, to put away these childish behaviors and become prominent and dignified women like your late _maman_ and your Aunt Natalie. Now give me the earbobs."

Shock and enraged that her father didn't let her keep the earbobs, she said, "Very well, Papa. If she wants them, let her retrieve them herself."

Andre nodded, putting down his hand. "Good girl. Angelique, retrieve your property."

Jeremiah released Angelique and Andre moved out of her way as she approached Josette. However, as quick as lightening, Josette threw the earbobs into the glowing fireplace.

"No! screamed Angelique, as she watched her dead betroth's gift land on the burning pile of wood.

"Josette!" yelled Andre, snatching his once-spoiled daughter by her arm. "Get out this instant and remain in your room until I come to you. Go!"

As Josette stormed her way out of Angelique's room, she looked at Barnabas, who looked at her with awed disappointment, and quickly left for her room. Natalie grabbed a pitcher of water and threw it on the fire, extinguishing it. She grabbed the shovel and fished for the earbobs. She lifted the shovel to show everyone in the room a pair of scorched pieces of jewelry.

"Oh, _ma cherie_, I'm so sorry about your sister's actions, but these can be restored," choked Natalie.

Jeremiah went to assure Angelique of Natalie's words, but she snatched away from him. "Get out!. All of you! Get out of my room!"

Quickly, everyone left, Barnabas convincing Jeremiah that it was best to leave her in peace, and Natalie, being the last one leaving, quietly closed the door behind her. The shovel rested on the table as Angelique collapsed on the floor near it, and wailed, calling Georges' name. Unbeknownst to her, a dashing young man with dark hair, dark eyes, and a wedding suit, appeared behind her, grieving with his devastated fiancée over Josette's cruelty.


	4. Chapter 4

"I hope you know that this is all your fault, Andre," stated Natalie, vigorously fanning herself in her brother's study, sitting on the settee across the room.

He was pacing back and forth, still reeling from tonight's events. "What is?"

"This animosity between Josette and Angelique, that's what. If you haven't spoiled Josette for years, we wouldn't have had such incidents tonight."

"Josette is responsible for her own actions, not I for hers!" Andre stopped long enough to light up a cigar. After a puff, he said, "I wasn't the one who threw the earbobs into the fire."

He spent a full hour reprimanding Josette for embarrassing him and their family in front of their guests that included her fiancé. He ordered her to apologize to everyone at breakfast tomorrow morning, and to give a heartfelt apology to Angelique for the damage she did.

"You were the one that permitted such behavior by allowing her to steal and keep whatever belonged to Angelique for over twenty years!" retorted Natalie.

"So now you're blaming me?" he asked, matching glares with his sister.

"You promised Marie on her deathbed that you would treat the girls equally. Even she knew that you favored Josette over Angelique just because she was not a boy. She appreciated the fact that you nurtured Angelique's intellect just as I do, but at the end, you were never fair to her when it came to Josette's greed."

"That's not true! I never treated one better than the other," protested Andre.

Natalie raised an eyebrow. "Really? Think about it, Andre, carefully. Whenever you bought something for Angelique that Josette wanted and stole, didn't you force Angelique to forfeit that item to Josette, promising to buy Angelique a replacement until the next time that Josette had her eye on a trinket, parasol, or dress that was meant for Angelique? Even when you buy new things for Josette?"

Andre plopped down in his chair behind his desk, taking in his sister's words. He knew that Natalie was right. All of this _was_ his doing. He knew that he spoiled Josette rotten, but he didn't realize that he was hurting Angelique in the process. He always thought that Angelique didn't cling on to material things, that they didn't mean anything to her. Perhaps in treating her like an apprentice to his plantation, he forgotten that she was also her father's daughter?

"And furthermore," added Natalie, raging on, "what possessed you to give Josette to the heir of Collinwood instead of Angelique? You know damn well that Angelique is more suitable to be Barnabas Collins' wife than Josette!"

"I forbid you to speak that way in my house, Natalie!"

Natalie looked around the room. "Oh, Andre! Do you see any kind of 'respectable' people in here to offend with my words? And besides that, your daughters heard me say worse."

Andre nodded in agreement. "Yes, but to answer your question, Barnabas had personally requested that he have Josette. He and his father raved about it, but Barnabas wouldn't agree to the marital arrangements unless it was Josette whom he was marrying. He is in love with her."

Natalie closed and put aside her fan, designed with tarot card images, and threw her hands up in surrender. "I suppose, but Josette is of no use to him. She is a doll-wife with no substance. He needs someone who would not be a potential embarrassment to his family and his business enterprises."

Natalie got up and leaned over her brother's desk, her arms braced on the desk's surface. "Perhaps we could save face by convincing Barnabas that it is not too late to switch brides-"

"It won't happen, Natalie. Everything has been signed and sealed in stone. Barnabas will have Josette, and Jeremiah will have Angelique. Barnabas will have to put his foot down with Josette and make her understand what is expected of her as his wife. I'm sure that they will have plenty of time to discuss this matter tomorrow. And concerning how I treated Angelique, I believe that you are right for once."

Natalie straightened up, and folded her arms. "I was right many times, Andre."

Andre ignored her statement. "I have been unfair to Angelique, and this time things will change for her benefit. But how shall I begin?"

"Well, you did finally demand Josette to return something of Angelique's to her although it didn't end the way it should had, but it is a start. Yet, if you continue to stand up for Angelique from now on, and put your own foot down with Josette, things will improve between you and Angelique, and perhaps, between she and Josette."

"First, I'm going to get those earbobs restored," declared Andre. "They weren't melted down in the fire, which makes them salvageable."

"That's the second step, brother dear. I'll retrieve them from her room tomorrow and take them to the DuBois' shop afterwards. You can just give me the money for their restorations."

"Agreed," said Andre.

Andre and Natalie amicably regarded each other, and Natalie left his study, feeling good about Andre's new outlook of Angelique.

The next morning, Angelique remained in bed, exhausted from crying all night, staring at the wall on her side. She heard a knock on the door, and sat up.

"Who is it?" she called out.

"It's Aunt Natalie, _cherie_. May I come in? I brought you breakfast."

"_You_, Aunt Natalie, brought me breakfast?" asked Angelique, taken aback.

"Why not?" asked Natalie. "May I come in?"

"Just a moment," said Angelique, jumping out of bed.

Tossing her long, blonde, hair over shoulder, Angelique fastened her dressing gown, and opened the door. Natalie, wearing an apron, held the tray before her and smiled.

"If only an artist could capture this moment on canvass," mused Angelique. "Come in, Aunt Natalie."

Natalie entered and set the tray of coffee, porridge, and toast on the table. She noted that the shovel from the fireplace was replaced in its spot and the earbobs were not in sight.

"Your breakfast, mademoiselle," announced Natalie, curtsying.

"_Merci_, Madam Countess," said Angelique, curtsying in return.

Angelique sat down, gave thanks, and hungrily enjoyed her meal while Natalie watched her in delight.

"I have news," beamed Natalie.

"What is it?" asked Angelique, curious.

"Remember when I use to tell you that Josette's comeuppance would happen?"

"Yes. Why?"

"You father and I had a conversation last night in which he finally realized that he was unfair to you, regarding Josette. He promised that from now on, he would stand up for you."

Angelique smiled wistfully at the prospect. "I will see it before I believe it."

"And this is coming from a woman of faith?"

"I have faith in God, you, and Jeremiah, Aunt Natalie, not Papa."

"Very well. I won't pursue the matter with you, but your father wants to pay for the earbobs."

Angelique eyes widened. "He does?"

Natalie laid her hand on top of her niece's forearm. "I told you that things are changing. Just give him a chance. I wouldn't have brought it up if it wasn't true."

Angelique nodded and changed the subject. "It must be late if you're bringing me breakfast. What time is it?"

"Past noon."

"Noon?!" exclaimed Angelique, dropping her spoon in her bowl. "Oh my goodness! I should get ready. And Jeremiah! What would he say if I keep him waiting another hour?"

When the young woman stood up, Natalie stood and pushed Angelique back down in her chair. "He would tell you to sit down and finish your breakfast. Jeremiah understands."

Natalie began to laugh. "You should have seen him when Josette came into the dining room. He looked as if he wanted to give her an earful of what your father gave her last night."

"He didn't quarrel with her, did he?"

"No, my child. She apologized, reluctantly, but she implored Barnabas for his forgiveness, which he graciously gave."

"I wouldn't expect anything less from him. They will be married in the future, and he loves her."

Natalie nodded. "That's true. Yet, the best part is that she cannot leave the house until she has apologized to you. Not even with Barnabas!"

"You seem to relish Josette's comeuppance more than I do."

"I watched that girl 'get away with murder' over the years, _ma cherie_, if you pardon the expression. Now, time for some entertainment!" She took out a stack of tarot cards from her apron pocket.

"But I have to get ready," protested Angelique, staring at the cards, "and you know how I feel about those cards."

"My dear, Jeremiah, as we speak, is advising your father on some plans for extending the storehouses for the excess crops. And as for these cards, tarot reading is only a game. I never took them seriously for the devil's tools, and neither should you. I enjoying making up my fortunes and pretending as if they did come true. For instance, I read every morning that I would have a husband who is more generous than your father, and afterward would write out the budget to my prospective wedding. Just imagine if my fortune did come true. Your father would had have a fit if he saw the final balance."

They both giggled.

"Now, _cherie_, let's began."

Natalie placed several cards on the table and stared at them intently.

"Let's see: there is a tall, dark, and handsome gentleman who seeks your hand in marriage."

"It doesn't take cards to tell me that, Aunt Natalie."

"I know, but I wanted to start with that. Now, be quiet and humor me. Now, I see a beautiful wedding, in a Protestant church, to my brother's dismay, and Josette standing as your matron of honor, and your groom…your groom…your groom…?"

Suddenly, Natalie's face changed from amusement into confusion. She put out some more cards and had the same expression on her face.

"Well, what about him, Aunt Natalie?" asked Angelique. "Surely you must 'see' something?"

"Oh, nothing, _cherie_. I couldn't see anything at first, but now everything is clear." You and Jeremiah look happy together. More so triumphant than happy."

"Due to his brother's commission, no doubt, and a clientele lined up for him," said Angelique, optimistic.

"Indeed." Natalie restacked the cards, replaced them into her pocket, and removed the tray from the table. "I'm going to let you get ready. Oh, and I need your earbobs. I'm taking them to the DuBois' shop, with your father's money in tow."

Angelique smiled and grabbed the blackened jewelry from her mantle.

"Put them on the tray," said Natalie.

Angelique did so, frowning at them.

Natalie gave her a reassuring smile. "Don't worry, _ma cherie_, Monsieur DuBois will have them restored to you in their former luster."

Angelique smiled as Natalie left the room. On her way to the kitchen, Natalie felt bad about lying to her niece, but she couldn't possibly tell her niece that not only did she _truly_ see a vision in the cards, but that her groom would be indeed…. Barnabas Collins.


	5. Chapter 5

***I want to first and foremost thank mtinpa2005, Ashley09, and Ashley for your reviews that inspire me to keep coming up with new chapters for this project. Feel free to continue to read and review. :)

"Barnabas?"

Barnabas was reading French poetry in the DuPres library when he heard a small, sugary voice call to him. It was Josette, shyly standing in the doorway.

"May I come in?" she asked.

"His solemn expression softened as he smiled. "Yes, Josette. You may come in."

She closed the door behind her, and walked up to his chair, kneeling next to it.

"Are you still angry with me?" Josette asked, afraid to look into her fiancé's eyes.

He looked into her set of chocolate browns. "I was more disappointed than angry, Josette, but I am neither anymore," he answered, closing the book.

Josette looked up at him with those beautiful doe eyes of hers. "I… I made amends with Angelique. She has forgiven me." She fidgeted with her skirt.

"That's very nice of you, my dear," he remarked, watching her, "and very gracious of your sister to grant you forgiveness."

She looked down and back into his gentle gaze. "I was…thinking that I could make further amends to you…for my behavior. I know that you were… very disappointed in me. I don't act that way all the time, Barnabas, but I do get carried away with beautiful things sometimes."

"_Ma cherie_, you could make amends to everyone by being more civilized. As your father said, you are an adult now, and I will tell you now that such behavior will not be tolerated at Collinwood," chastised Barnabas, gently.

Josette looked away again. "_Oui,_ uh, yes, of course, but I want to show you that I _could_ be a good and obedient wife to you. The kind that will make you proud to call me yours. I will do… _anything_ to prove that."

Barnabas nodded, caressing her hair like a pet cat. "You will."

Frustrated and impatient that Barnabas could not understand what she was trying to offer, Josette stood up and turned her back on her fiancé, who was trying to comprehend her mood.

"What is it, _ma amour_?" he asked, walking up behind her, wrapping his arms around her.

"Barnabas, I…I…I thought about this all last night and this morning. I couldn't bear the idea of you being upset with me because of my actions towards Angelique. Therefore…I wish for you to have me, tonight, to show you that I can be a good wife."

Eyes widened, Barnabas turned her around and looked into her eyes for some sort of hint to her request. "Do you know what you are saying, Josette? You can't possibly be serious."

Josette fervently nodded. "But I am, Barnabas. I want to show you that I can comply with whatever you want. I want you to make love to me, and to not restrain yourself from whatever…you find pleasurable. I mean, I am inexperienced, but I can learn to like whatever you like, and we will be married in the future, so why should we wait?"

Barnabas' body responded to her offer in the most obscene gesture, but he kept his eyes upon Josette's so that she would not look down at his crotch. "Josette, as much as I do desire you, I don't want you to feel that you need to make up for anything with your body. Your apologies to me, Jeremiah, your aunt, your father, and Angelique had more than sufficed, and we all had forgiven you. Also, it wouldn't be right if we disrespected your father's home by engaging in fornication before our marriage."

"Fornication?!" Josette laughed, wrapping her arms around her beloved's neck. She knew that he was aroused, inching closer to the bulge in his closer. "_Mon cher_, we are engaged to be married. We're not adolescents sneaking around, doing 'dirty things' behind our parents' backs. We are consenting adults who will soon be husband and wife. No one or nothing will separate us. And our act of love will strengthen our bond, and make me more dedicated to being yours and behaving in the way that would please you. Please come to my room tonight. No one will ever know. Please?"

Josette began kissing him, leading to the exquisite art of tongue kissing that Barnabas had shown her not too long ago. As their lips and tongue engaged in their sensuous acts, Josette allowed her arm to slide from his neck, to his shoulder, to his chest, down to his crotch as she caressed and grabbed at the organ that she hoped will seek its pleasure in her this night. Feeling himself about to lose control, Barnabas quickly pushed her away.

"Alright," he panted. "Alright, Josette. However, I am obligated to ask you one final time if you are for certain about this. Once the act is done, it cannot be undone, my love."

She nodded.

He sighed. "Then I will come to your room tonight after midnight, once I had determined that everyone is secured in their rooms."

Josette smiled joyously. "Oh, Barnabas! I am so glad that you will have me. I shall await you, my darling. This will be a night that we will never regret."

As she turned to leave, Barnabas stopped her. "Remember, Josette, if you perhaps change your mind, please do not fear to tell me. I can wait until after the wedding."

She beamed at him as she opened the door, only to nearly bump into Jeremiah, who was still annoyed with her.

"Good afternoon, Jeremiah," she greeted politely.

"Josette," regarded Jeremiah, curtly.

As soon as she left, Jeremiah closed the door behind him. "Do you always meet with your fiancée behind closed doors? What if Monsieur DuPres would have been here instead of me?"

"Jeremiah," said Barnabas, annoyed, "I'm sure that you were alone with Angelique many times without any chaperonage, and nothing untoward happened. Nothing improper took place in here either. We simply discussed her behavior towards Angelique, and what I expected from her in the future as my wife. Especially since we are to live under the same roof until the new house is finished," said Barnabas, half-lying.

"I agree with you," nodded Jeremiah, accepting his nephew's explanation. He approached Barnabas, who was relieved that his erection had disappeared. "I have a favor to ask you for tomorrow afternoon."

"Such as?"

"Monsieur DuPres had asked me to accompany him to a colleague's plantation as a consultant in constructing a new wing to his home. I will be absent for the whole day until dinner, and I would like for you to keep Angelique company as much as you can. I know that I am asking much of you since that would take away from your time with Josette, but I don't want Angelique to think that she's been purposely neglected. Will you show her that you can be a good nephew and entertain her?"

A sudden rush of excitement surged through Barnabas' body as he thought of the prospect of being alone with Angelique. Yes, he was excited about being with Josette tonight, but to finally know more of Angelique's puzzling nature was a venture that he longed to undertake.

"Of course, Jeremiah. I will play the part of the good nephew to my future aunt."

Jeremiah patted him on his shoulder in gratitude. "Thank you, Barnabas. I must go now. Angelique is waiting for me at the gazebo. Good day."

"Good day," returned Barnabas, as Jeremiah rushed to meet his lady love outdoors.

A small smile crept upon Barnabas' face. _I wish it was Angelique whom I was meeting with tonight._

It was fifteen minutes to two o'clock in the morning when Barnabas quietly exited Josette's bedroom, his coat and neck cloth slung over his arm. Instead of feeling satisfaction from his first intimate encounter with Josette, he felt an overwhelming disappointment, stronger than when he witnessed his beloved Josette heartlessly throwing Angelique's deceased fiancé's final gift in the blazing hearth. When he first entered Josette, Barnabas noticed that she did not have the natural barrier that signified her chastity. Of course, she made some pitiful moans of pain, but they did not match to her current 'status.' However, since she allowed him the privilege to have her, he didn't stop his act of lust. He didn't want to. He hasn't had a woman to lie with in a very long time, and he was going to enjoy himself, even if he wasn't the first.

As he carefully walked down the hallway to his room, all sorts of questions and thoughts clashed in his mind.

_She wasn't a virgin. Who could she have had before me? How could she have deceived me? I can't go to her father and say something about it because he'll accuse me of having dishonorable intentions towards his daughter for knowing her carnally. And then he may choose to not honor the contracts, and I can't allow that to happen. Our shipping enterprise needs the money for new ships. And although I'm not marrying Angelique, her father may stop her marriage to Jeremiah because of me, and it is her dowry and inheritance that would cover the majority for the ships' replacement costs. If I knew that Josette was a fallen woman, I would had followed Father's advice and betrothed myself to Angelique. But what if Angelique was like her sister? After all, she was committed to another man before Jeremiah. But then again, Angelique is quite different from Josette, but what do I know? I thought that Josette was a saint._ _However, I have no choice but to marry Josette, unfortunately. No one will know, but me of her true nature. And I'll have to keep a better eye on her as well once we're married, just in case she may try to officially cuckold me._

As he turned the knob on his door, he heard another door opening, and quickly ducked into his room. He peeked through the crack to see Angelique, fully dressed, carrying what looked like a white gown with a translucent material resting on top of it, heading directly for the stairs. Curious, Barnabas, tossed his neck cloth aside, put on his coat, and followed silently behind her.

Staying in the shadows, Barnabas followed Angelique into a clearing where she met Jeremiah and two male slaves, one carrying a torch and another, standing in between two buckets of water.

"Don't you think that it is a little late for us to meet, my dear?" asked Jeremiah, yawning. He pointed to the gown in her arms. "What's that?"

"My wedding gown and veil," she answered.

"I'm not sure if I was supposed to see them yet, Angelique."

"This dress was not meant for our wedding, Jeremiah. It was meant for mine and Georges' wedding."

Puzzled, Jeremiah asked, "Why are you showing me your gown out here and at this ungodly hour, Angelique? And why are they here?" he demanded, gesturing to the two men.

"Jeremiah, do you notice the pile of wood before us?" she asked, gesturing with a nod to the ground.

He looked and finally noticed the pile of wood. "I did, but what does all of this…mean?"

His sleep-deprived mind finally connected the dots. "Angelique, you don't have to do this. I understand that you still love Georges and I am more than patient-"

"Jeremiah," interrupted Angelique, "I kept this gown locked away in a trunk for nearly a year. I will always cherish my memories of Georges and the earbobs he gave me, but I will not have two wedding dresses. If I am going to marry again, I will show my husband that I will only honor him and him alone. Not a memory."

She gestured for the first slave to light the wood pile. As the flames began to rise, she tosses the dress and veil into it, watching the flames disintegrate the materials along with the three other men with her. Jeremiah, knowing what this 'ceremony' meant to her, wrapped his arm around her waist, comforting her as she symbolically relinquished her engagement to Georges DuBois.

Barnabas, who was not close enough to hear their dialogue, watched with great awe and envy.

_Why would she throw her wedding dress into the fire? Was she breaking her engagement to Jeremiah? No, of course she wasn't. He wouldn't hold her like that if that was the case. It had to be the one she would have worn as Georges DuBois' bride. What an awesome gesture of devotion she is showing to Jeremiah! _

When the fire was put out, Jeremiah walked Angelique back to the house as Barnabas continued to look on, unseen.

_I see now that Angelique is vastly different from Josette. Why must he get an angel and I a loathsome, Babylonian whore? Hmmm. Only because I was deceived. Well, there is still time. Perhaps if I can usurp Jeremiah in Angelique's affections somehow, I wouldn't have to be tied to that loathsome and lying bitch anymore._

The next afternoon after making several inquiries around the mansion of Angelique's whereabouts, including to Countess DuPres, who reluctantly gave him the information he desired, discovered that she was doing some needlework in the gazebo.

When he saw that she was too engrossed in her work to notice his presence, he cleared his throat as he stood erect with his cane in hand.

Angelique looked up, surprised. "Oh, Barnabas!" She began to gather her basket of colorful threads, needles, and scissors. "If you're meeting Josette here, I'll sit on the porch and continue with my embroidering."

Barnabas put up his hand to stop her. "No, Angelique. I'm not meeting Josette here, and I wouldn't interfere with your needlework if it was so. Jeremiah asked me to keep you company today since he is with your father-"

"Consulting with Monsieur St. Cecile about the wing he wanted to add to his house," finished Angelique, who hardly removed her eyes from her work. "I know all about that. Jeremiah left me a note. It's very sweet of you to want to keep me company, but wouldn't Josette disapprove?"

"I don't see why she would since we are all practically family. It's the same as if I asked Jeremiah to keep her company. May I sit with you?"

She moved her basket to the left of her on the ground and gestured for him to sit beside her.

"Thank you," he said, comfortably settling next to her, resting his hands on his cane.

He leaned over to observe her embroidery. "You have an excellent skill, Angelique. Such intricate stitching! How long have you worked on this?"

Her needlework was of a ship on the ocean, with the sun's rays beaming down upon it. "Oh, for two weeks. I would have been finished if I wasn't so distracted by other things."

"You mean from lavishing attentions upon Jeremiah?" he asked, watching her reaction.

"Well, I don't mind 'lavishing attentions upon Jeremiah', as you said, but I am thrilled to finally finish this piece."

She looked over at his cane that he was holding by the neck under the wolf-head handle.

"I've never noticed your cane before," commented Angelique. "It's unique."

"Thank you, Angelique." He held it up for her inspection. "It's silver mixed with gold. It belonged to my maternal grandfather."

"I see," she said, admiring the craftsmanship.

There was a moment of silence between them before Barnabas asked, "Are you feeling better from the night before? From the…incident with the earbobs?"

"I am feeling a little better since Aunt Natalie took them to be restored by Monsieur DuBois."

"If it's any consolation, Angelique, I am more than prepared to pay for the damages-"

"Barnabas, please." She held up her hand to stop him this time. "You don't have to do so. It was my fault for not locking my _boudoir _door in the first place, considering Josette's habit of wandering into my room to take whatever she pleased."

She caught herself. "I'm sorry, Barnabas. I should not speak that way of Josette since you are her fiancé, but you should know that you don't have to pay for her transgressions."

"Very well," remarked Barnabas, "but I assure you that Josette will never do anything like that again in New England. My family and I do not condone such childish behavior."

"I really appreciate your assurance, Barnabas. I am sincerely grateful for your understanding."

"You are more than welcome, my dear…future…aunt."

The silkiness in his voice made her uncomfortable, but she ignored it with a new subject. "You don't have to refer to me as 'aunt,' Barnabas, since you and Jeremiah are on familiar terms. After all, we are of the same generation, you know."

"Yes, we are. Aren't we?"

He was staring at her, noting the beauty of her slender throat and the shape of her adequate-sized bosom.

_Why couldn't she have been a beautiful and eager servant girl?_ he thought. _At least it would have been easier to seduce her. Being a servant, she would have been grateful for the attention from someone like me._

"Um, Angelique, may I ask you a personal question?"

Angelique's eyes widened as she regarded him. "I suppose it is alright."

Barnabas blurted out his question. "Do you love my uncle?"

Angelique's cheeks reddened. "Barnabas! That _is_ personal, but I suppose that it is fair because of my reverence for Georges' memory, but I am coming to love Jeremiah."

"Does he know that?" he asked, eyebrow arched.

Angelique didn't want to answer any more questions, but she felt compelled to put Barnabas' mind to rest on the subject. "He knows in many ways that I am."

"Like your bon fire last night?"

Angelique nearly poked herself with her needle. "How did you know about that?"

Barnabas manufactured a quick explanation. "I saw the fire from my window, and then saw you and Jeremiah walking towards the house after it was extinguished. I was wondering why the both of you would be up so late to watch a bon fire."

Believing that he suspected inappropriate behavior, she explained, "I was burning the wedding dress that I would have worn if I married Georges. I wanted to show Jeremiah that his memory would not have stood between us in the future."

"I see," said Barnabas, appreciating Angelique more. "I had to ask because you are a very beautiful young woman. Sometimes men can't help themselves with such beauty without chaperonage."

"I understand your concern, but Jeremiah would never act outside of propriety, Barnabas. I can assure you of that."

"He is fortunate to have you."

"I think that I'm fortunate to have him." She finished the stitch on the blue ocean.

"I believe that it is the other way around, Angelique, considering his station in life."

Anger was kindling inside her. "Are you insulting your uncle because he is your father's dependent, monsieur? Including yours at that?"

"No," answered Barnabas. "It is because a woman of your breeding and status should belong to someone who is your equal. Someone like…me perhaps?"

Angelique felt herself getting hot and shifted uncomfortably on the bench as she busily started her embroidery of black birds, flying above the ship. Yet, no matter how much she tried to ignore him, she felt his dark eyes traveling up and down her body, as if he knew how she looked under her chemise, and noticed that he moved closer to her until she felt his arm against hers. He allowed his onyx-ringed finger to trace down her arm up to her wrist. She froze, trying to contain her anxiety, but then she felt his full lips on her shoulder, then the crevices of her neck. Having enough, she threw down her needlework, jumped up, and glared down at the man, covering protectively the spots he kissed.

"Have you forgotten your uncle, Barnabas?! My sister? Have you forgotten that I am the daughter of a noble and honest businessman, and not some whore you could freely fondle?"

Barnabas stood up. "I am sorry, Angelique. I have no excuses for my actions. And you are right: you are not a whore, and neither are you a prude."

Angelique cocked an eyebrow, as she saw no remorse in his eyes. "And what does _THAT _mean?"

"That means, my dear, that you would have stopped me long ago before I had the pleasure of tasting your sweet neck."

"You are vile!"

Barnabas shrugged. "Vile? Not really. Determined? Yes."

"Determined to do what? To seduce me in order to make a fool out of Jeremiah? Perhaps he was right about you. You do think of yourself as lord and master, entitled to everything and anyone."

"No. I'm just entitled to the best of everything, including the best of the DuPres sisters."

"You have Josette, and I think that we should not keep company anymore. I won't say anything to Jeremiah or my father because of the contracts, but I will never allow you to be alone with me again. Not now or ever."

She picked up her needlework and her basket, and stormed off towards the house. Barnabas stood up, cane in hand, watching the woman he now desired more than anything.

_Yes, Angelique, ma cherie. Resist me now and be Jeremiah's fiancée…for a while longer. It may not be today, tomorrow, when Jeremiah and I leave for New England, or even when you first arrive to your new home in Collinsport. But you know as well as I do, that one night, you will come to my bed…as my wife._


	6. Chapter 6 (Early Autumn 1795)

It was late September when the DuPres family had arrived at the current residence of Collinwood. They, along with Countess DuPres's secretary, Bette Roulette, had a long and exhausting journey across the Atlantic Ocean for two weddings that were to take place before the new year. As discussed, Josette and Barnabas would wed first in late November, and Jeremiah and Angelique in mid-December. Although Angelique and Josette had managed to be civil to each other, Josette enjoyed throwing subtle insults towards Angelique, concerning her marriage to the 'penniless architect,' while Angelique silenced her by showing off the earbobs that Monsieur DuBois had restored to their previous luster.

When they arrived at the docks, the family was shocked by the cold, dreary weather that was a contrast to the warm, sometimes sultry, paradise that was the sisters' former home. Andre rapped at the door with his cane, only for the door to be answered by the stern, sour-faced master of Collinwood, Joshua Collins.

"Ah, DuPres! I see that you and your family had arrived. Although a week late," said Joshua, without delivering a proper greeting.

"Collins, we were delayed by bad weather and last-minute preparations for the impending weddings. We are cold, hungry, and irritable. Now spare us your thoughts on our late arrival, and let us in before we turn around and go back to Martinique," demanded Andre.

"Quit your brooding and come in," said Joshua, moving to the side as the family and Mademoiselle Roulette entered the grand mansion.

"All of you are graciously welcomed to Collinwood," said Joshua, giving his version of a 'proper greeting.'

When they entered the parlor, Andre gave an all-around introduction of his sister, daughters, and his sister's secretary, while Joshua looked at the young women, whom were to be his future daughter and sister-in-laws. He examined them as if they were prized horses and nodded his approval.

"I suppose that you are Josette, young lady," he said, appraising Josette's appearance. "Barnabas had often gone on about you, and in a way, you ruined my ambition for him."

Josette felt indignant as he moved to Angelique. "And you are indeed Angelique. Jeremiah is very fortunate to have you for a prospective spouse, considering that my son did pass your fortune over for 'love,' as he said."

Now both sisters shared something in common for the first time ever: a genuine dislike for their fiancés' father/ brother.

Natalie could no longer further tolerate this man's insolence, so she stepped in on behalf of her nieces. "Mr. Collins, if you are done examining my brother's daughters for pedigree, we shall like to get settled in our rooms, and be prepared to meet the rest of your family. And furthermore, we require hot tea and hot baths."

Joshua raised his eyebrow at this insolent woman, who was making demands of him in his own home. "And who are you, madam, to give me servant instructions under _my_ roof?"

Natalie lifted her chin and replied, "The daughter of nobility, as my nieces after me, and the sister of one of the most prominent of noblemen on the island of Martinique."

"In this country, _madam_, we do not recognize such things unless you are a man in a government office. And you, _madam_, have no power or position to order me to do anything."

"I'm not the one who is desperate for money for his ships, now aren't I?"

"Natalie!" chastised Andre. Natalie ignored her brother and continued to match glares with the current lord and master of Collinwood. Yet, Andre intervened.

"You must excuse my sister, Mr. Collins. Although she could be a bit…high-strung at times, she is right. Your brother and son had made their choices in which of my daughters to marry, and you looking them over like merchandise isn't making a good impression upon our family, considering our situations for these marriages to take place in the first place."

Joshua hated to be reminded of being the one on the vulnerable end of their arrangements, but he grudgingly agreed with the older DuPres sibling. "Perhaps I was…rude, Monsieur and…Madame DuPres."

Natalie scowled at the common American. _If he was in our household, he would have been whipped for his insolence!_

Joshua called out for one of his servants. "Stokes! Stokes! Where is that lumbering fool? STOKES!"

As quickly as his legs would take him, Ben Stokes, eyes lowered, regarded his master. "Aye, sir?"

"Show the DuPres family and their servant-"

"_My_ secretary," corrected Natalie, reinitiating the glaring contest between she and Joshua.

Joshua finished his command, ignoring her. "_To_ their rooms. Then inform Mr. Barnabas and Mr. Jeremiah of their fiancees' arrivals. I will be in my study and wish to not be disturbed until dinner. Understood?"

Before Ben could answer, Joshua Collins stormed off to his study, without further regards to his future in-laws. Natalie laughed at the master of Collinwood's self-importance and haughty exterior.

Andre, however, was not amused. "Natalie, try and be more sensitive towards Mr. Collins' situation. A man like him is not used to the position that he is in, and to throw his need of our family's finances into his face may ruin his impression of us, especially _your_ nieces."

Natalie laughed again. "Brother dear, the marital contracts had been signed and sealed. If you're worried about Mr. Collins withdrawing from them, he won't do so. He's too desperate to maintain his shipping industry and livelihood to jeopardize the contracts because of me. There's nothing to fret over."

"Nevertheless," countered Andre, "I don't want him to assume that your behavior has been passed down to your nieces."

"Then perhaps you, as their father, should have told him that the marital auction house was closed months ago!"

"Beggin' your pardon, sir and ma'am," interrupted Ben, who was being scowled at by the foreign siblings. "Your rooms are ready upstairs. You want me to take ya' to them now?"

Andre sighed. "Very well. Our luggage are still outside. You may start bringing them in afterwards." He turned to his family. "Come along, everyone. Angelique and Josette, I trust that the both of you will present yourselves as the proper and docile young ladies you were bred to be, and to take note that any similarities to your aunt's behavior towards Mr. Collins will not be tolerated."

"Yes, Papa," said the young women in unison, following Ben and their father up the steps, with Natalie and Bette behind them.

At dinner, the DuPres sisters were the perfect examples of high-class breeding, befitted to the New England family's standards. Despite his instant dislike for 'Countess DuPres,' Joshua approved of her nieces, much to Barnabas's and Jeremiah's reliefs. Naomi, the matriarch, approved of them as well, despite the fact that she had to retire early from dinner due to a 'headache.' The betrothed Collins men were ecstatic to be reunited with their brides-to-be, embracing, kissing, and professing to them how much they missed their presence.

Later that evening, after everyone retired to their rooms, Barnabas was still awake, sitting in his velvet armchair before the fireplace in his bedroom, rubbing his chin in frustration. After several months of spending time and money on decorating Josette's bedroom to her specifications, including hanging her portrait above her mantle that came to the house along with Angelique's, Barnabas _still_ wanted Angelique. Ever since he tasted the salt of her shoulder and neck, he became engrossed with thoughts of her. He was disappointed that Angelique had only acknowledged him as a friendly relation while kissing Jeremiah with the utmost urgency of a person desiring water in the desert. He wanted her to kiss him with the same urgency. However, being a reasonable man, he had to accept the fact that she belonged to Jeremiah. She would always ignore his longing for her as long as she was attached to Jeremiah. He resolved to just accept the fact that he was to marry Josette, and that there would never be a future between he and Angelique. Yes, Josette was impure, but he must be willing to forgive her for her indiscretion for his family's and business's sakes. After all, _he_ was the one who chose Josette over Angelique, and now he would have to live with his choice. Barnabas vowed to make Josette an honest woman. He would keep her secrets. He would redeem her from her past. Yet, he would always secretly cherish Angelique. He returned to his fantasy of her, picturing her crystal blue eyes looking up at him as she kissed her way down his chest to his urgency —

_Knock, knock, knock, knock! _

He was startled out of his fantasy by insistent knocking on his door. If it was any other person but his mother, he would be greatly annoyed. He got up to answer the door, and was shocked to find Josette in his doorway, standing before him, dressed in her bedclothes.

"Josette, my dear, what are you doing here? It's late!"

"Do you want us to get caught?" asked Josette, ignoring his question.

"Of course not," he answered.

"Then let me in and shut the door," she said.

Barnabas quickly ushered her inside, looking from left to right in the hallway before shutting the door.

Josette strolled around his room, amused on how masculine her betroth's room was with his books and papers stacked neatly upon his desk, and dark colors in the furniture, beddings, and draperies on the window. She noted his silver wolf-head cane, propped up in the corner near his bedroom window. She then turned her attention to Barnabas, who looked deliciously attracted in his green and black embroidered robe although he was still dressed in his shirt and trousers underneath. She sauntered over to him, and wrapped her arms around his neck.

"You are so handsome tonight, my love," she whispered, wrapping her arms around his neck. "You don't know how long I waited to be alone with you again."

Barnabas removed her arms, and moved past her to his desk. Her eyes showed confusion and hurt, but he didn't see them, having his back turned to her.

"Josette," he said, looking at the cream-colored walls, "it is not proper for you to be here with me. We must respect propriety until after we are married."

She walked up behind him. "You didn't think so in Martinique, Barnabas."

He turned to her. "So now you hold our night together against me? Just because I wish to wait?"

Josette shrugged. "It won't make a difference anymore, Barnabas. We'll be married soon enough, and I will leave as quietly as I came afterwards, _mon amour_." She wrapped her arms around his waist this time, and leaned on his chest. "Now, take me to your bed, darling."

Barnabas pried her arms from him, again, and marched towards the door. "I will have to ask you to leave, Josette."

Astonished, she walked up to him. "Why?"

"I told you why," he answered. "We cannot take the risk of being caught. What will your father say? Or mine? You must leave now."

Josette's eyes narrowed at him. "Is there someone else?"

"Don't be ridiculous, Josette," he chastised. "Although I can ask you the same question."

Josette's eyes widened as she stammered, "Wha-what are you talking about?"

It was Barnabas's turn to narrow his eyes as he quietly answered, "You know what I am talking about."

"No, I don't. Please tell me what I've done wrong," she pleaded with pitiful eyes.

"You were _not_ a virgin that night, Josette."

Horrified at the accusation, she protested, "That's not true! I was innocent before you had me!"

"Keep your voice down!" he ordered. "It's no use denying it. You don't think I know a virgin when I had one? You had no maidenhead and you didn't bleed!"

Josette lowered her head in shame as her fiancé glared at her. "Barnabas, I-"

She went to touch his face, but he withdrew from her.

"Barnabas, please forgive me," she implored. "It wasn't my fault. He-"

"Who was it?" he demanded, his brown eyes smoldering in anger.

"Please don't make me tell," she said, shaking her head.

Barnabas grabbed her by her arms, and pulled her roughly to him. "Who was it?!"

"Georges DuBois," she quietly answered through tears.

Aghast, Barnabas backed away from her. "Your own sister's fiancé? How could you do such a thing, Josette? Does she know?"

Josette shook her head.

"Was it rape?"

She reluctantly shook her head.

Barnabas composed himself, feeling more disgust for his bride than before. "I..I will keep your scandalous secrets, Josette. No one is to know anything about your impurity or your liaison with Georges DuBois, especially your family, more so your sister. Do you understand?"

Poised as a condemned prisoner, she tearfully answered, "Yes."

He opened the door, searched for signs of life in the hallway, and told his guilty fiancée, "Leave my room and don't come back until after we are married."

Barnabas averted his eyes as Josette quickly returned to her room. He unconsciously slammed the door and resumed his position in front of the fireplace.

_Angelique must never find out about her former fiancé's betrayal. Despite this new revelation, I must marry Josette in order to protect Angelique's memory of Georges DuBois. However, I will not be deprived of tasting Angelique's flesh again. If I have to marry a whore, then I will have to convince Angelique into becoming my mistress instead._

Restless and having made up his mind, Barnabas got dressed, woke up Ben Stokes, and had him to saddled two horses for them to ride out into the cold, black night. They rode, surprisingly to Ben, to Eagle Hill Cemetery, where Barnabas had Ben to look after the horses while he made his way to the Collins mausoleum. With the iron gate closed behind him, he pulled the old iron ring from the stone-carved lion's mouth, and the stone door grinded open, leading to the secret room behind it. Inside the room was an old wooden chest, filled with all kinds of gemstones and jewelry. Barnabas knelt at the chest, brushed away the collected cobwebs, opened it, and allowed his hands to roam through the precious items. After a while, he searched for the perfect gift for the 'perfect' woman.

The next afternoon, Angelique was reading an English novel in the Collins's library when she sensed someone else's presence. She slowly looked up to see Barnabas, watching her from the doorway.

"Good afternoon, Barnabas," she greeted, pleasantly, closing the book. "I'll take my leave if you don't mind."

She rose to leave, but Barnabas entered, blocking the exit.

"You don't have to leave on my account," he said, stepping forward, hiding a medium jewelry box behind his back. "Perhaps I should have asked if I was intruding."

"It's your house, Barnabas. I am the one intruding. I should leave."

He continued to block her way. "Angelique, you will soon be a member of this household. You should not feel as if you are a stranger."

"Thank you, now if you don't mind-"

"Are you afraid of me?"

"I am not afraid of you, but you do recall what happened in Martinique in my family's gazebo, do you?" she asked.

"I was impulsive and wrong. I do apologize, Angelique."

"You already had apologized, Barnabas, but it was obvious that you wanted more from me than what was proper. We cannot be alone together."

She went to move around him, but he blocked her again, exasperating her.

"Angelique, please." He removed the box from behind him, and held it out to her. "I have a peace offering for you. A token of our…friendship?"

Angelique looked at the velvet box, critically. "Barnabas, you don't have to give me a gift. What happened was a mistake, and it could be clearly avoided if-"

"Angelique, I know that I was wrong to…do what I did, and I still carry a heavy conscious about it. I must make proper amends. We should be able to trust each other when we are alone as we are now, shouldn't we?"

Angelique nodded. "We should be able to do so… without the other crossing the line."

He pushed the box to her. "Then please accept this."

Angelique graciously, but reluctantly, accepted it. "Thank you. What is it?"

"Open it and see," he encouraged.

When she opened the box, she gasped at the sapphire and diamond necklace with matching earbobs that rested on the dark blue velvet surface.

"Oh, Barnabas! They're beautiful, but do you think it's wise to present me with this sort of gift?"

"Nonsense!" he exclaimed. "You will soon be a Collins. Why shouldn't you have a residue of the famed Collins' family jewels?"

" 'Famed jewels'?" she inquired.

Barnabas nodded, pleased that she was interested about their origins. "Yes, Angelique. It was said that they belonged to my Aunt Abigail. She was an introvert, and was impressed by this pirate who arrived in Collinsport many years ago. As a token of his affections, he gave her a chest filled with jewels and gemstones of all sorts. Yet, my father and paternal grandfather found out about it, and threatened the pirate with the law if he didn't leave Collinsport for good. This, obviously, angered my aunt, but they assured her that it was for her own good. Eventually, Aunt Abigail became a devout Christian, and forgotten all about the pirate and his treasures. What she didn't know was that my father and grandfather kept the chest in a secret room inside the family mausoleum."

"A secret room?" Angelique was entranced, sitting back down on the sofa while Barnabas sat next to her.

"Yes. It was used during our war with Great Britain to hide weapons and ammunition. Every now and again, Father would go into it to give my mother little presents for her birthday, or whenever he unjustly lost his temper with her. Jeremiah did the same for Laura at one point. Now, it's my turn to give jewels to a… worthy lady."

Angelique was awestruck by the stories and the gift, but she sensed that Barnabas was still infatuated with her. "Barnabas, I can't accept this gift. Not because I don't appreciate it, but wouldn't it be more appropriate if you gave these to Josette instead?"

"Josette will have all the jewels at her disposal," he responded, with an edge in his voice that made her flinch. "I am sorry, Angelique. I see that it makes you uncomfortable to receive such a gift from me. I only wanted to make things right between us. I thought that…a well-bred lady like yourself, who was often deprived of such beautiful things in her life, should have something as special and antique as those jewels. I'll take them back."

Feeling cold and cruel for rebuffing her future nephew/brother-in-law's efforts in making amends, and remembering the many times that Josette had taken her jewelry, with her father's approval, she pushed down Barnabas's outreached hand. "Would Jeremiah hold it against you for giving me the jewelry?"

Barnabas, relieved that she changed her mind, grinned. "I think that he would have seen it as generous on my part in welcoming you into the family."

She looked down at the box. "How do you think that Josette would feel about this?"

Barnabas shrugged. "Why should she complain? She'll be entitled to the rest of it."

Angelique smiled, unaware that her acceptance of the jewelry was a gateway for Barnabas's subtle advances. "Thank you, Barnabas. It is lovely to know that we could put the past behind us and move forward as amicable relatives."

He gently took her feminine hand into his masculine one and said, "You are more than welcome. And I am grateful that you have accepted my gift, my dear, sweet, amicable…aunt."

He kissed her hand, keeping his eyes open to observe her reaction. Angelique's cheeks reddened. She wished him a good afternoon, and jumped up from the sofa, making her way to her room, unaware that Barnabas was smiling at the prospect of a secret romance.

Two weeks later, at dinner, everyone was chattering about the upcoming weddings and the progress of the new mansion of Collinwood's construction. However, Josette and Barnabas were not speaking to each other unless it was a question, followed by an answer. Barnabas hasn't spoken to Josette since he discovered that not only had she lied about her virginity, but also revealed that she had a liaison with her own sister's fiancé. Everyone noticed that there was tension between them, but they dismissed it as a lover's quarrel that would surely pass. Yet, Josette seemed more irritated by Barnabas's silence and lack of attention. Not because of what happened weeks before, but because she noticed that Barnabas was constantly paying close attention to Angelique, her sister. She knew that Barnabas liked Angelique, and had even listened to him compliment her on her needlework, but now he was looking at her like an infatuated school boy. It repulsed her! She was relieved that Angelique did not reciprocate his feelings, but she could tell that she fallen out of favor with him. She decided that when the time was right, she would confront him about the matter.

The next day, Barnabas and Josette were having tea that afternoon in the parlor when she asked, "Barnabas, darling, do you still love me?"

Staring at his wide-eyed fiancée, he asked, "Why would you ask that?"

She looked away as she put her tea cup and saucer on the table before them.

"You haven't shown any affection towards me for two weeks. I thought that you have forgiven me for my past with Georges."

"I have," replied Barnabas, "but it is difficult to get over the fact that you had fornicated with your sister's fiancé."

Josette's eyebrow lifted. "You seem more concerned for Angelique than you are for me, considering that _ I_ am your fiancée."

Barnabas ignored her statement and poured himself another cup of tea.

Frustrated, Josette blurted, "Do you desire Angelique?"

Barnabas gave her a ferocious glare that made Josette back away from him on the sofa. "That is the most absurd question that you'd ever asked me!"

Her eyes pleaded that he didn't have designs on her sister. However, Barnabas was amused by her insecurity. There were times before that Josette had bragged to him about being better off than Angelique due to their engagement. Now, she was afraid that Angelique had replaced her in his affections. He thought that this was a very interesting moment. To put her at ease, he smiled at her and took her hands.

"No, my dear Josette, I do not desire your sister. It is true that I am fond of her, but it is you whom I love," he lied, seeing relief in her eyes.

"Oh, Barnabas!" She threw her arms around him, nearly making him drop his cup and saucer. "I promise that I will be a good wife to you."

"I'm sure that you will," he said, setting his cup and saucer next to hers. "Why don't we go for a stroll and take in some fresh air?"

Eager to please her future husband, she said, "Yes, my love. Anything you wish."

As Josette and Barnabas walked along the grounds of Collinwood, Jeremiah and Angelique crossed paths with them, coming from the building site of the new mansion. The couples briefly conversed, and Jeremiah and Angelique continued on their way to the original home. During their conservation, Josette noticed that Barnabas's eyes were soft towards Angelique, even loving. Once they were out of earshot, Josette, forgetting her promise to be a better wife-figure, snatched away from Barnabas's arm.

"You liar! You do desire her!"

Barnabas matched glares with Josette. "I think that you are imagining things due to your own guilt for your sins against us."

_'Us'? Why did he have to say 'us'?_ she thought. "I've noticed last night, and for the time that we've lived here that you have been giving her longing looks, even when you're complimenting her appearance. You hardly complimented me, and I'm your fiancée!"

"What do you want me to do, Josette? Ignore her when she is in our presence? Refuse to acknowledge her when she enters a room with us? You seem to forget that Angelique is not only to be my sister-in-law, but also my aunt, my uncle's wife. It is my duty to show her the proper respect due to her, and to make sure that she is warmly welcomed into my family, even if it means complimenting her appearance."

"You're not just doing your duty, Barnabas. You're infatuated with her! You desire her now because of my indiscretions, but if you think that you will replace me with the likes of her, you're wrong. If you are hoping that she would feel the same way about you, she will never do so because she is Jeremiah's loyal mutt!"

The way Barnabas's face darkened in anger made Josette wonder if she went too far. His was tight-lipped and white-knuckled as he gripped the handle of his cane tightly. She took a couple of steps back, wondering if Barnabas would act as he felt.

But then, Barnabas exhaled, composing himself. "Josette, I will not tolerate you saying such things about your sister, who will also be _your_ aunt by marriage. As long as you _plan_ to be my wife, and reside in Collinwood, you will _always_ respect Angelique. Furthermore, whether or not I have an infatuation with her is none of your concern. You should be concerned with your standing with me. Remember, Josette, that it is your privilege to be the next mistress of Collinwood. You should be glad that your father doesn't know your ugly secrets…yet."

Josette gasped. "Would you tell my father everything?"

Barnabas's arrogant smile let her know that his answer was in the affirmative. He grabbed her arm and pulled her to him with an unmistakable force. "In addition to ending our engagement and informing our families on the kind of woman you really are? Yes. However, if you learn to behave yourself with me and Angelique, your place here will be secured. Now, come along to the house. You ruined our walk."

Unintentionally, he tugged at her arm hard, leading her back to the house.


	7. Chapter 7

November has finally arrived and everything was set on course. The wedding invitations had been sent out to important members of Collinsport society for the late November and mid-December weddings. Also, ahead of schedule, the new Collinwood residence was nearly completed. Jeremiah had lead the tour of the entire house (except for the secret passages that remained a secret between the Collins men by Joshua's order), which impressed everyone, especially Josette. She believed that she and Barnabas would live there until Barnabas had announced that he and his future wife would be living in the original home. Fire began to flicker in Josette's brown eyes when she caught both Andre's and Barnabas' warning glowers. Therefore, she feigned illness and asked to go back to the original mansion. Joshua, recognizing that it was nearly time for dinner, suggested that everyone return to the house as well. Jeremiah asked for Andre's permission to have Angelique to stay with him a little longer at the new house, and, despite Joshua's disapproval, he gave it. When everyone left, Jeremiah went into the drawing room, with Angelique following behind him.

"What do you think of you new home, my darling?" he asked, spreading his arms in gesturing the house as a whole.

"It's beautiful, Jeremiah. You've done well. And even if he didn't show it, I can tell that your brother approved of it, too."

"Yes. He actually saw the house this morning. He wanted to give his pre-approval before anyone else saw it. When he gave his 'dignified' nod and clasped his hands behind his back, I knew that he approved. And he mentioned a few of his associates who would be impressed by my work once they see it at our wedding."

"They will see the house at _our_ wedding?" asked Angelique.

"Of course, my dear. Call it…Joshua's wedding present to us for our future. He believes that I could make some business connections at the reception, which will be held here."

Excited, Angelique jumped into his arms. "Oh, Jeremiah! That's wonderful! Everything is finally falling into place for you as I knew it would."

"My dear," Jeremiah said, "all of this would not have been possible if it wasn't for your belief in me."

"I can't take all the credit, darling. I simply encouraged you and you did the work."

"Ah, don't be so modest. I wouldn't have been motivated if it wasn't for your inspiration. And, I have a surprise for you."

"What?" she asked, beaming.

"I have drawn up plans for our own home," answered Jeremiah, grinning.

Angelique's eyes widened. "_Our_ home?"

"Yes, Angelique. _Our_ home. I never wanted to be a dependent of Collinwood for the rest of my life. I want a home of our own, our own land, where you and I will be master and mistress of it. And our children afterwards. I not only want it for myself, but also for you. You deserve as much."

Angelique's eyes watered. "Thank you, Jeremiah."

They kissed and hugged again. Suddenly, Angelique pushed Jeremiah away from her, horror in her eyes.

"Angelique, what is it?" he questioned. He followed her gaze to the windows behind him, but saw nothing. "What is it?"

"I-I thought I saw someone, peeping through the window," she said, shaking.

"It could had been one of the groundskeeper," suggested Jeremiah, "making sure that the house was secured."

Angelique composed herself, nodding. "Yes. Yes, of course. A groundskeeper. Heh heh. Let's go back to the house, Jeremiah. I'm sure that everyone is wondering what is taking us so long."

"Are you sure that you're alright?" he queried, ushering her to the double doors. "Do you feel ill?"

"Perhaps I need to rest a little before dinner, and then I'll be fine," she said, forcing a smile.

Although she was a good Catholic, Angelique, aware of the existence of the good and evil supernatural forces, knew deep in her heart that who she saw at that window was her late fiancé, Georges DuBois. Questions had run through her thoughts as she and Jeremiah walked back to the house: Is it really Georges? And if it is, why did he come back?

After dinner, Barnabas and Josette were having an argument in his study about who should move into the new mansion.

"For the last time, Josette, the answer is no. We will live here in the original home, not the new mansion. My parents have given this house to us as a wedding present. To demand residence at the new home would be showing ingratitude."

"Ingratitude?" You are his son! His heir to the Collins shipping and fishery empires, and your dependent uncle and Angelique get to live in that magnificent house, and not us?! You are going to be the future master of Collinwood. What would our children think when we tell them that we are bound to this house by 'gratitude'?"

"They will appreciate the historical value of this house, Josette. I will instill that in them, and when my parents have passed on, and then we will have the new house."

"I don't feel that we should wait!" exclaimed Josette.

"Keep your voice down!" he ordered.

Barnabas wiped his face in frustration. "My decision is final. We will stay here. This will be our home, and you will learn to love it, and be grateful for the privilege of living here."

"What privilege? The privilege of living in an outdated, morose monument to 'history'?"

If Barnabas wasn't one to control his temper, he would have slapped her across the face. He said, scowling at her, "My decision is _final_! If you come to me with demands to move out of this house again, I will make good on my promise to expose you for the trollop you are. Understand?"

Realizing she has no choice in the matter, she murmured, "Yes."

"Good. Now since our wedding is in two weeks' time, I suggest that you plan your wardrobe for our honeymoon in Boston. You are excused. Good night."

Josette stormed out of the study, furious. She could not bear the thought of living in this relic while 'Angelique the Prude' and the 'penniless architect' lived in the grander, new mansion. It was already enough that Angelique was now her fiancé's favorite, but to be subjected to living _here_? She made up her mind. She will regain Barnabas' affections, and move into that house, even if her methods for doing so would be considered 'unorthodox'.

Josette climbed the steps to the third level, and impatiently knocked on Bette Roulette's door. Unbeknownst to the DuPres family, except Josette, Bette Roulette was a witch. As far as anyone knew, she was a young French transplant from the home country that the countess had taken in and hired as her personal secretary. Yet, by accident one night, Josette witnessed Bette performing some strange ritual in which she was chanting strange words and dallying with tools that had no business in any Christian household. Josette stored her knowledge of Bette into memory until she needed it for her own purposes. That is, until she needed it to punish Georges DuBois for proposing marriage to Angelique instead of her.

Josette simmered at the remembrance of her affair with Georges. Although she thought of him as a bore in the beginning, Josette changed her mind when she saw all the wonderful jewels he bestowed on Angelique. It is true that Josette had all of the attention of suitors from far and wide, but she believed that she was entitled to a suitor like Georges, a man who had access to jewels fit for a queen. Therefore, she began to act pleasant towards him, complimenting him, which threw him off since he was familiar with her blatant rudeness. One day, when no one was home, except the house slaves, Josette invited Georges to the house, under the pretense of fixing a broken clasp to a necklace that she purposely damaged, to seduce him. Despite his aversion to her advances, she immediately won him when she slipped her hand into his trouser, stimulating his manhood while whispering naughty things into his ear, her voice revealing a truth to her promises. He took her that day in her aunt's private parlor while the house slaves pretended to not notice.

After their first encounter, they would meet in secret in the barns and storehouses on her father's plantation for several weeks. Josette was certain that he would propose to her instead of Angelique, but, when Countess DuPres caught and railed at them when she found them in Josette's bed, everything changed. Georges repented for his 'mistake,' and proposed to Angelique, vowing fidelity to her. Humiliated, and with Bette in mind, she coerced, with threats of revealing her true nature, the secretary/ witch into causing a fatal 'accident' to happen upon Georges upon his wedding day to Angelique. If Josette couldn't have him, then neither would 'the Prude'.

Bette opened the door. "_Oui, mademoiselle_?"

Josette pushed past her, not even bothering to ask if she could enter her room. Bette closed the door, and looked at Josette, knowing that the woman wanted _something_ from her.

Josette, putting on her most haughty air, said, "I require your 'abilities' again."

Bette, who regretted her action in helping to orchestrate Georges' death, and annoyance at Josette's power over her, replied, "Shall we murder another man who found you distasteful, mademoiselle?"

"Watch how you speak to me, witch! You're still under my family's authority, and if I wanted to, I can tell them who you really are and what _you_ did to Georges."

"_I_ wasn't the only one involved in his untimely demise," retorted Bette. "I acted on your request!"

Josette laughed at her. "Who would believe a subordinate like you, Bette? You're my aunt's _servant_, sleeping in a _servant's_ room, in a _servant's_ quarter in Collinwood. _I_ am the daughter of the most respected planter in Martinique, and the fiancée of the heir to Collinwood and his father's prominent shipping and fishery empires. Society will _always_ hold up my words above yours, especially above a murdering sorceress like you!"

Josette folded her arms, feeling superior. "As a matter of fact, I can see them burning you at a stake as we speak. Or perhaps hanging you. Maybe even drowning you like a newborn kitten. One word from me, and a death warrant will be signed in your honor. Now, no more retorts, understand?"

Bette seethed at this horrid woman, but gave in. "_Oui, mademoiselle_. What would you like for me to do?"

"I need you to create a love potion for me. Barnabas has turned against me because he found out about my indiscretion with the late jeweler. Although he won't confirm it, he is in love with my pallid-faced sister, Angelique. I won't lose him to her or my richly-deserved position as the next mistress of Collinwood. Therefore, you  
will make a love potion that will make him love and honor me forever."

"At least you won't kill him," said Bette, relieved.

"Of course not, you fool! Why would I want to kill the heir of Collinwood, who will soon have all of Collinsport at his feet? His family is royalty here, and I intend to be his queen."

Bette nodded. "Very well, but this time for a price."

Josette scoffed. "A price?! You want me to pay you for a potion?"

"For my…unusual services. Do you think that others like me do this without something in return? I let you blackmail me into killing Monsieur DuBois so that your sister couldn't have him. But this time, you _will_ pay me! I won't let you continue to kill or influence men who obviously had discovered the _real_ you!

_WHACK!_

Josette struck Bette with a force that landed the secretary across her table.

"You insolent bitch! If I didn't need you for this venture, you would have already been burned! And if you think that my aunt would come to your rescue, even if you implicate me, she won't lift a finger to help you. You will prepare the potion and bring it to my room tomorrow night after eleven o'clock. _And_, to settle this farce about payment, expect none. Do I make myself clear?"

Wiping the blood from her mouth, Bette answered, calmly, "_Oui, mademoiselle_. Whatever you wish."

"Very good, Bette." She smugly smiled. "_Bonne nuit_." (Good night.)

After Josette, all sorts of curses filled Bette's mind, and not just the vulgar kind. She had enough of this ruthless, ill-mannered whore! Deep down, she pitied Angelique for having a sister like her. When Bette saw Angelique's grief over Georges, she vowed to never commit anything evil against her again. However, being what she is, she had to protect herself. Sighing, Bette resigned to performing this last act for Josette, and afterward, she would resign as Countess DuPres' secretary and leave Collinsport for France.

When she turned to go to bed, Bette was surprised by a grotesque, broken-necked, bluish-faced corpse, dressed in a wedding suit. He shoved her to the wall, and throttled her, dragging her up the wall as she gasped for air.

"I know what you and that heartless bitch did to me," he said, his words biting at her conscious. "I should kill the both of you right now, and get it over with. But I have a better idea: since Josette wants to be Madame Collins so badly and live in the new mansion, then she shall have her wish. However, not in the way she thinks. I will spare your life, _this time_, Bette Roulette, but only if you do as I command. Agree?"

He dropped her on the floor. Bette, grabbing her throat and looking up at the corpse, nodded, desperation in her eyes.

His laughter chilled her blood. "Very good, Bette. Now this is what you'll do…"


	8. Chapter 8

***Here's another riveting chapter of A Tale of Two Sisters. Thanks again for support and interest! Enjoy!

Two days later, Josette had brought a tray of tea and butter cookies for herself and Barnabas into the parlor, and brought extra cookies and tea cups for Angelique and Jeremiah, who were due to arrive soon from the new house. As instructed by Bette, Josette was to pour the contents of the potion into Barnabas' tea, and, afterwards, to make eye contact with him. As a result, Barnabas was to fall madly in love with Josette, and forsake other women (including Angelique) for her. Once they had consummated their love, they will be bound to each other forever. Josette anticipated the outcome. She couldn't wait to hear Barnabas profess his undying love and fidelity to her again.

Before she entered the parlor, Barnabas was staring out the window at the bare trees and grassless ground as Angelique and Jeremiah approached the original house. He observed their interaction, and, in his opinion, they seemed _distant_. Although they were walking together, her arm in his, they were not smiling, laughing, talking, or carrying on as an engaged couple. He wondered if perhaps he and Angelique quarreled on their way back here. He also wondered if they realized that their engagement was a mistake. However, it would not had mattered, considering that none of them would have been allowed to get out of their marital contracts, especially him with Josette.

Although he cringed at the idea of it, Barnabas knew that he had no choice but to marry Josette. He could not fathom a happy life with her, but he resigned to try to live as civilly as he could with his future wife. Yet, with his new-found observation of Angelique and Jeremiah's demeanor towards each other, perhaps that it would be easier for him to seduce her into becoming his mistress. At least Barnabas would be happy, and he was sure that Angelique would be happy with the prospect once she finds that Jeremiah would serve as an inadequate husband.

"Barnabas, my darling," chimed Josette, after pouring the contents into his cup, "I brought tea and cookies for us."

Rolling his eyes, Barnabas turned from the window, and offered a cheerful smile towards Josette. "That's very sweet of you, my dear. I hope you brought enough for your sister and my uncle. They are approaching the house now as we speak."

Josette groaned inwardly, but kept her positive demeanor. "Yes. I was informed by Aunt Natalie that they had gone for a walk, and that they may want something hot to drink once they'd returned."

Jeremiah and Angelique entered the house. Once Jeremiah hanged his and Angelique's cloaks on the rack, they joined Barnabas and Josette in the parlor.

"How was your stroll?" asked Barnabas, directing his question to Jeremiah while gazing at Angelique. "The weather looks beautiful, but I know that the air is frigid."

"You're right about both," answered Jeremiah. "Angelique and I were complaining about it on our way from the new house."

Barnabas' disappointment on the status of their relationship hit him like a blow to the face. "Of course. Well, join us for tea and cookies. Josette was nice enough to bring them in herself."

"Thank you, Josette. I am famished for something to eat until dinner, and the tea will suffice in warming me from the cold," said Angelique, sitting next to Barnabas on the settee.

Josette ground her teeth at Barnabas' sudden joy of being near her sister, but, not wanting to initiate a fight that would surely send Barnabas out of the parlor, she replied, "You are most welcome, _dear_ sister."

Jeremiah and Josette sat in chairs at the opposite ends of the settee, and she handed everyone's cups to them. She was careful to give Barnabas his cup last. Thirty minutes later, after much conversing about the weddings and the weather, Josette was shocked to find that although she made eye contact with Barnabas several times after he drank his tea, nothing changed. He still seemed enamored with Angelique, and the 'penniless architect' couldn't even see that his nephew was paying more attention to _his_ fiancée than his own! Yet, strangely, Josette found that she pitied _him_. Next, she noticed that her previous animosity towards Jeremiah had subsided. She didn't know why, but she started to feel drawn to him. Then what came next surprised her. Jeremiah was smiling at her. He hasn't smiled at her for who knows how long. He seemed to have noticed her longing for Barnabas to pay attention to her. She began smiling seductively at him, and he in return. Barnabas and Angelique did not notice their betrotheds' interactions since they were busily talking about Collinsport's various shops.

"It's a pity that you really haven't seen all of the shops in the village, Angelique. Perhaps Jeremiah will take you once everyone settles into the new house."

As if on cue, Jeremiah suggested, "I have an idea, Barnabas. Why don't you and Angelique go into the village now and show her the shops. I'm sure that they'll whet her interests for decorations for our future home."

"Father told me of your plans to live outside of Collinwood," recollected Barnabas, who would not be deterred from his goal in claiming Angelique by distance. "However, Jeremiah, Angelique just came in from the cold. Do you really want her to go back out? She could become ill."

_I wish she would,_ thought Josette.

"Actually," interjected Angelique, "I wouldn't mind it at all. I would like to look at the novelties and figurines that I may want to buy."

"I can purchase them for you today if you like," offered Barnabas. Josette did not react to his statement. "That is, if Jeremiah doesn't mind."

Jeremiah shook his head. "Of course not. Go ahead and buy her some gifts to show her how generous her nephew really is."

"Alright," answered Barnabas, containing his pleasure, "Would you like to go now, Angelique, or wait until you had time to let the tea warm you?"

"We can now, Barnabas, if nothing prevents you. I have nothing planned for the rest of the day."

"Excellent. Shall we?"

After informing their betrotheds that they will return before dinner and leaving the house, Jeremiah and Josette, grinning at each other like Cheshire cats, jumped from their seats and passionately embraced and kissed.

"Oh, Jeremiah! I don't know why I never noticed you before, but now, _mon cher_, I want to spend the rest of my life with you."

"As do I, my darling, as do I," he said, kissing her again.

"Let's take advantage of our time together now. Come with me, darling," she said.

"To where?" he asked, laughing.

She pulled him to her close and said, "My bedroom. Now. While we still have time."

"Now? This early? Why not tonight?"

"I can't wait until tonight. I must have you _now_."

Jeremiah looked around. "Then let's go quickly."

As they hurried up the steps, none of them noticed, from around the corner of the parlor, Bette watching the result of her curse, as order by Georges DuBois' ghost. She hoped that once the spell was broken she could avoid the wrath that was surely to come from Josette.

When the lovers arrived outside of Josette's room, they kissed again before entering for the rest of the afternoon. Yet, they did not realize that _another_ person had watched their shameless behavior.

Ever since that first moment that Natalie had caught Josette with Angelique's first fiancé, she never expected, or dreamed, that she would experience the worst déjà vu of her life when she saw Josette and Jeremiah go into her niece's bedroom. Together. How could that stupid trollop betray her own sister again? How could she risk angering Barnabas, who was already upset with her over her ingratitude and discontent in living in the original house? She didn't know, but whatever it was, his wrath over that issue would not compare to his reaction to _this_. But then again, Natalie thought about the vision she had when she first read Angelique her fortune about her impending marriage. Natalie read the tarot cards several times since then, and the results remained the same: Angelique would marry Barnabas! And since that appears to be true, then why should she interrupt the 'lover's interlude'? She went back into her room, intending to keep what she saw to herself.

_Two weeks later..._

"What do you mean you're leaving for New York? Your nephew is getting married tomorrow, and you're supposed to stand as his best man," argued Joshua. He was sitting behind his desk in his new study when Jeremiah told him the last minute news. "Also, you and Angelique have to be ready to vacate the original house while they are in Boston. You must stay here to manage your belongings during the move."

For two weeks, Joshua and Naomi had been busily moving their belongings into the completed, new mansion in Collinwood. Jeremiah, Angelique, Andre, and Natalie decided to remain in the original mansion until after Barnabas and Josette's wedding. Joshua left Barnabas all of the furniture in the house except for those of his and Naomi's bedrooms, and other personal items that were theirs. Also, Joshua allowed Ben Stokes to remain as Barnabas' live-in servant along with a maid for Josette's attendance. Although she has not moved into her new room, Angelique was excited about how close her marriage to Jeremiah was coming. However, Jeremiah found himself dreading that day. He needed to somehow prevent his and Josette's weddings from happening. Therefore, he formulated a plan that would bound them forever.

"I understand that, Joshua, but a gentleman had offered me an advance to draw up plans for a new home he wants built for his new wife by next autumn."

"Who is this man!" demanded Joshua.

"You wouldn't know him. He's from New York, a politician's cousin," he answered, looking his elderly brother in the eye.

"I know everyone in New England," retorted Joshua, slamming his fist on his desk. "I demand to know his name!"

"He wishes to remain anonymous," countered Jeremiah, his tone even. "Besides, it is best that I have an established business connection before spring. You would do so if someone offered you a lucrative business opportunity, Joshua, and don't tell me that you wouldn't."

Relenting at that argument, Joshua threw up his hands. "Very well. Go, but make sure that you inform Angelique and Barnabas of your abrupt departure. I will handle DuPres and his sister."

"I already have spoken with Angelique about this matter. She understands that this is a wonderful opportunity for the both of us, for our future."

"What opportunity?"

Barnabas entered the study as Jeremiah and Joshua turned to acknowledged his presence.

"Barnabas, I really hate to do this, but I have to meet a potential client about a house he wants built in on the countryside in New York. I will be gone for a week or two, and, I'm afraid that I won't be able to stand for you tomorrow."

Barnabas lifted his eyebrow. "Really? And how does your fiancée feel about you _not_ accompanying her to her sister's wedding tomorrow?"

"She understands, Barnabas," replied Jeremiah. "Angelique knows how important this is to our future."

"If you say so," said Barnabas.

On the contrary, Barnabas knew that there was something else happening in this situation. He noted for the past two weeks that his uncle was hardly attentive to Angelique, but she seemed unfazed about it. He also noticed that Josette had stopped railing at him about the new house and his 'longing' for Angelique. His suspicion was confirmed when he noticed that both Jeremiah and Josette would make significant eye contact at each other at dinner. Rather than become jealous and confrontational, he ignored and watched them at the same time. Although he was thrilled to realize that Jeremiah and Josette were carrying on a possible affair, he pitied Angelique. After all, she already lost one fiancé briefly to her sister, and then to death, and now she must face the possibility of losing Jeremiah to Josette as well. Yet, he himself anticipated being the one whom Angelique would find refuge when everything comes to light, eliminating the need for his plan for her. Even if it happens after his ill-begotten wedding.

"I see. Alright, I'll give you leave of my wedding, Jeremiah, but I won't excuse you from the next event to take place in mid-December."

"Mid-December?" asked Jeremiah, lifting a brow.

"_Your_ wedding?" reminded Barnabas.

"Oh, of course," said Jeremiah, blankly. Barnabas noted that as well. "Well, I shall finish packing and say my fare-wells."

Jeremiah nodded to his brother and nephew, who returned the gesture, and left the study.

Barnabas smirked. "The way he said that, Father, sounded so…final."

Joshua murmured an agreement. "You don't mind that he don't stand for you at your wedding?"

Barnabas shook his head. "Not at all, Father. After all, ambition is a driving force in our family. It wouldn't be fair to deprive him of his goals, don't you agree?"

"Perhaps," sighed Joshua.

An hour later, Angelique walked with Jeremiah to his coach after his baggage was loaded onto it.

"Jeremiah," she said, "I will surely miss you."

"I know," he said, impassively. "I will miss you as well."

She looked at him sidelong. "Are you angry with me? Did I do something wrong?"

"No. Why do you ask?"

"Your tone seems…neutral."

"No, my precious," he answered, assuring her with a smile. "It's just that…I feel that I have disappointed you by not being with you at the wedding tomorrow. Also, I won't have the pleasure of moving into the new house with you this week. But you do understand that what I'm doing is for both of us, do you?"

Angelique's easy smile made him guiltier than before the lie he told. "_Mon cher_, you know that I of all people understand that you have an ambition for independence. You know that I support you in all of your doings."

He couldn't look into her eyes. Why was he betraying this thoroughly beautiful woman for Josette, the woman whom he realizes he _truly_ loves? Weeks and months ago, he couldn't even stand the sight of her! But now, he wanted her, and if his plan goes well, he will be with the woman who captured his heart and soul.

Before he climbed into his coach, he managed to look into the eyes of the fiancée, whose heart he would break, and kissed her for the last time. "I knew that there was a reason why I wanted to marry you."

As Jeremiah rode off, he wondered how he would explain the situation to Barnabas, Angelique, and their families since he knew that they will all be enraged at his and Josette's betrayals. As for Angelique, he hoped that she would _truly_ understand his change of heart.

From her window, Josette saw Jeremiah take off from Collinwood as she broke into heavy sobs. She knew that Jeremiah would come back for her as they discussed, but she wished that she was in that coach with him. As she began creating a rope from her bed sheets, and others that she had acquired, she thought about how she made a grave mistake in believing that she wanted cold, hateful, Barnabas over warm, loving Jeremiah. She thought that she was in love with Barnabas, and she wanted him to desperately love her after discovering her flaws and mistakes of the past. However, everything changed when she realized her 'love' for Jeremiah. She no longer cared what Barnabas thought of her or how he secretly desired to exchange her for her 'perfect' sister. She now had Jeremiah, who promised her a better life without living up to their families' standards. They will live happily ever after in Collinwood, in the new house, as she wanted. If their families and former betrotheds disapproved, so be it. They were in love and no one was going to stand in their way of happiness.

The next morning, Natalie and Angelique, dressed in their wedding gowns, knocked on Josette's door to get her prepared. No answer. They both knocked insistently and called for Josette to answer the door. Still, there was no answer. Natalie alerted Andre, Joshua, and Barnabas, and all of them rushed to Josette's door. Joshua, who had a spare key to the room, immediately unlocked and opened the door, and found it empty. Josette DuPres was missing.

As everyone was fretting over Josette's whereabouts, Barnabas found a jasmine-scented note on her writing desk. After he read it, he balled the paper in his hands and threw it on the floor. Everyone was startled at his action.

"Well, what is it, monsieur?" asked Andre. "What did she write?"

Solemnly, Barnabas turned to everyone, keeping special attention upon Angelique, whose big, beautiful, blue eyes stared in eagerness.

"Josette has eloped with Jeremiah."

Angelique instantly screamed in indignation, rage, and disbelief. Although Natalie tried to calm her, she would not be pacified. She screamed all sorts of French and English curses and names towards her sister and former fiancé, and ran to her room wailing, with Natalie trailing behind her. Andre, on the other hand, was disappointed, irate, and ready to commit murder. Joshua's face turned red and his cheeks puffed in solidarity with his business partner's mood. Barnabas turned from them and looked out Josette's window into the frigid, sunny world that _was_ his wedding day. Although he despised being betrayed in this manner, he was relieved to finally be free of Josette to pursue the woman he most truly found worthy: Angelique DuPres, who also would be in need of a 'comforter' during her time of despair.

Several days has passed since that fateful day. The two families tried to comprehend Jeremiah and Josette's betrayals, but couldn't come up with any plausible answers except mutual lust, scheming on Josette's behalf, and Jeremiah's stupidity. Angelique had refused to leave her room, much to Barnabas' dismay, but he left her to her grief. She only opened her door for Natalie, and refused to speak to her father, blaming him for Josette's ultimate cruelty and selfishness. Natalie did her best to comfort her, angry at what happened, but relieved that her favorite niece did not find out that Georges was one of Josette's lovers.

One night, about fifteen minutes to midnight, Barnabas returned to Collinwood to his home. As he hung up his cloak on the rack, he noticed that the candelabras were still lit, and that Angelique was finally out of her room, reading by the fire.

"Angelique? What are you doing staying up at this hour? You should be sleeping," he said.

Angelique looked up from her book. "I couldn't bear to be in my room for another second. All I could think about was Jeremiah and Josette, and what they had done to us."

He settled upon the settee. "I understand, my dear lady. Do you believe that they would return to Collinwood?"

"I don't care if they ever returned, but Josette should stay away while I'm still in residence."

"Of course. I feel the same way towards Jeremiah, but not for myself, mind you, but for your sake," he said, looking at her with sympathy.

Angelique, noting Barnabas' concern, rose from her chair, leaving her book on the chair, and sat next to him. She felt as selfish as Josette by not considering that Barnabas was likely hurt by her sister's and uncle's betrayal as she.

"Barnabas, I am sorry for my sister's behavior."

"You shouldn't apologize, Angelique. Remember when I wanted to pay for the restoration of your earbobs? Remember what you said to me?"

"Yes. I suppose that no one is responsible for the other's behavior," she said, smiling at him. "However, she and Jeremiah should have acted like adults and told us of their feelings for each other, instead of running off like self-centered, immoral… people." She spat out the last word. "I mean, if this was all about me and Jeremiah living at the new house, then perhaps we should had compromised and-"

"No!" he exclaimed. She jumped, eyes widened. "This is my home. I grew up here, and I intended to stay here until my parents died and left me the new house! As my wife, it was her duty to comply with my wishes, instead of running off like a child with a tantrum."

"And Jeremiah. Of course, he didn't have a tantrum, but he, for some reason, was drawn to her supposed 'plight,' and decided that the best decision was to reject me for her."

Barnabas looked down at his hands on his lap. "I'm sorry that you had to suffer another loss of a fiancé, Angelique."

Angelique bitterly smirked. "Well, at least I didn't make the mistake of falling in love with Jeremiah."

Barnabas' eyes widen in surprise. "You mean…that even now…you don't love him?"

Angelique began to sniffle. "I thought that I could, and I believed that I was falling in love with him, but…you know, I blame myself as well."

"Why?"

"I should have known that something was wrong. Jeremiah has become detached from me for the past couple of weeks. I suspected that he no longer loved me for some reason, but he assured me that everything was fine. I should have known that Josette's petty hungers didn't just stop at inanimate objects and animals. Thank goodness that Georges never fell for her feminine wiles."

She cried into her hands. Barnabas pulled her into his arms to comfort her. She smelled of lavender, a scent that was supposed to relax an anxious individual, but it was doing no good for Angelique. Yet, it relaxed Barnabas. He buried his nose into her, soft golden hair, and inhaled, dizzy with ease and the rise of unrequited passion. He kissed the top of her head as she softly whimpered. Then, he cupped her chin to his face, and pressed his lips to her. She tasted of milk and tea as he plunged his tongue into her mouth, surprising her out of her mood. Nevertheless, she pushed him away and stood from her seat, glaring at him in the same way as she did at the gazebo in Martinique.

"Monsieur, have you lost your mind? Did you think that I would allow you to… to toy with me after what happened? You were not disappointed by Josette's and Jeremiah's betrayal, weren't you?"

He stood and met her face-to-face, showing, once again, no regret for his actions. "No, I'm not disappointed at all. I knew that they would run off together sooner or later."

Angelique scowled at him in realization. "_You knew_? You knew and you didn't tell anyone? Not even me?"

"I wasn't sure at first. And besides, Angelique, I think that it's time that you realized that your sister is a whore."

Angelique shook her head. "Well, that's obvious considering-"

"I'm not talking about her running away with Jeremiah," interrupted Barnabas.

Although Barnabas had vowed to himself that he would not tell Angelique the ugly truth about Georges' indiscretion with Josette, he needed for her to know so that she would not continue to delude herself with memories of _that_ man. He needed her to turn her attention and mind to _him_.

"I'm talking about her liaison with your former fiancé, Georges DuBois."

Angelique, horrified by the accusation, pointed an accusatory finger towards Barnabas. "You lie! Georges would have never had an affair with Josette. He loved me!"

"Really, Angelique? Think about it: did you ever notice that Georges and Josette were…_overly_ _comfortable_ together?"

Angelique shrugged, but was shaking with anger. "They didn't get along at first, but they eventually put aside their differences, but nothing untoward happened between them. I would have known!"

"Just as you wished you would had known about she and Jeremiah?" he asked, raising his eyebrow.

"I don't believe you! You're trying to ruin my memory of Georges. Why should I believe you? You're trying to seduce me with lies!"

"Josette told me herself. I made her tell me after I discovered that I was the second man she bedded in Martinique."

Shocked, Angelique stammered, "You…you seduced Josette? In my father's house? And then tried to discard her for me?"

"_She_ seduced me, my dear. It was _her_ idea."

"You lie. YOU LIEEEEEE!"

Angelique pushed past Barnabas and ran out of the house into the freezing blackness of night. Barnabas ran after her with his cloak in tow, calling her back to the house. When she was about twenty feet from the house, she fell on her knees to the ground and vomited. Suddenly, everything started to make sense to her. When Georges was alive, Josette used to hurl insults at him whenever he paid court to Angelique. Later, her demeanor towards him mysteriously changed to everyone's surprise. She was thrilled that Josette and Georges had gotten along, despite the fact that their familial relationship was still strained. She also remembered that Georges, at one point, had begun to act indifferent towards her, but he blamed it on the stress of his family's jewelry business. Then, out of the blue, he _begged_ for her forgiveness for his neglect, and proposed to her, promising that he would always love and honor her for the rest of his life. When their engagement was announced, Josette ranted against it and threw glaring looks at her and Georges whenever she saw them together. Angelique believed that it was pure jealousy since it was not Josette herself who was engaged before her. And when Georges died, Josette mocked her behind their father's back, taunting her with prophecies of spinsterhood, referring to her as the Black Widow. Angelique wondered why Josette was so mean-spirited and hateful towards her in her moment of grief. Now, it was clear: because Georges was Josette's lover, and he ruined and rejected her younger sister for her.

Barnabas came upon her with his cloak, ready to wrap around her, but kept his distance when he noticed that she was heaving her stomach contents upon the frozen ground. Once she finished, Barnabas tried to help her up, but she swung at him.

"Leave me alone, you disgusting opportunist!"

"Angelique, it is too cold for you to stay out here and fight me. You will either come inside voluntarily before you catch pneumonia, or get carried in involuntarily. Make your choice now before I decide for you."

Not wanting to be touched by him, she managed to stand up, and reluctantly accepted his cloak. They both walked back slowly to the house, Barnabas monitoring her in case she passed out. He escorted her to the countess' room, and explained to the older lady that Angelique 'must had been coming down with an illness,' while Angelique mourned for herself for being the fool that she had always been.


	9. Chapter 9

The next morning, Natalie brought up a tray of soup and tea to Angelique's room. When Angelique called her to come inside, Natalie saw Angelique, sitting up in bed, jiggling her diamond earbobs in her hand, staring at them. After Natalie set the tray upon the table, she sat by Angelique's bedside.

"How are you feeling this morning, _ma cherie_?" she asked.

Angelique didn't respond. She kept staring at the jewelry, jiggling and flipping them in her hand.

. "I see that you have taken comfort in those earbobs," Natalie said, smiling.

Angelique still ignored her aunt for the jewelry in her hand. Natalie became concerned of Angelique's strange behavior. Perhaps she developed a fever. To be sure, she felt Angelique's forehead, and her niece's temperature was normal.

"Is there…something wrong, _cherie_?" she asked, observing her.

Angelique slowly turned her face to her aunt and asked, "Have anyone ever grossly betrayed you, Aunt Natalie?"

"A man or two in the past," mused Natalie. "You're still upset about Jeremiah and Josette, I see. Was that why you fell ill last night? Thinking of them?"

Angelique flipped the earbobs again. "The man who gave me these earbobs, Aunt Natalie. He was my fiancé as well, wasn't he?"

Natalie drew back, trying to comprehend her niece's mood. "_Oui, ma cherie_, but…why these questions?"

"Did you believe that he truly loved me?"

"Angelique! I don't understand these questions. You _knew_ that he loved you. He wouldn't have proposed marriage to you if he did not love you."

"You know, Aunt Natalie," she said, examining the earbobs in her palm, "people marry for various reasons. They get marry for money…family…ambition…for companionship…and sometimes…_love_." She looked at Natalie upon the last word.

Natalie was now uncomfortable. _No. She couldn't have found out._

"And sometimes," continued Angelique, "they get married out of guilt."

Natalie was now _extremely_ uncomfortable with this conversation. "Angelique, what are you trying to tell me?"

Angelique burst into laughter, and Natalie wondered if this latest betrayal had finally taken its toll on her beloved niece.

"Oh, Aunt Natalie! What else would there be to tell? There is nothing to tell at all."

Then she leaned towards Natalie, who leaned in return towards Angelique.

"Except that my deceased fiancé had had a vile, dirty, affair with my whore-sister!"

Like lightning, Angelique threw the earbobs across the room, surprising Natalie.

Eyes widened, Natalie exclaimed, "Angelique! That's no way to behave!" She got up and retrieved the earbobs from near Angelique's dresser, and resumed her seat by her niece's bedside. "Anyway, who told you that lie? Was it Josette before she left? Don't listen to her, _cherie_. You know that she'll say anything to upset you if she could get a reaction from you."

"Josette didn't tell me anything. It was Barnabas," she answered, glaring at the earbobs in her aunt's hand.

"Barnabas? How would he know?"

"He knew Josette in the 'biblical sense,' Aunt Natalie, when he and Jeremiah visited us in the spring. However, he found out that she wasn't a virgin. He confronted her about it after our arrival here, and made her admit it."

Stunned, Natalie allowed the jewelry to drop on the floor. She bowed her head and said, "I…I hoped that you would have never had to find out."

Angelique's blue eyes widened and burrowed into her aunt. "You…you knew, too? I know that Barnabas had his reason for keeping this secret from me, but _you_? Of all people, Aunt Natalie, _you_! I thought that you had my best interests at heart! I thought you loved me!"

"I do love you, _cherie_, which was why I didn't tell you. I wanted to protect you from that awful secret. I didn't know when it started, but I made sure that it ended."

Angelique's eyes narrowed. "How did you find out?"

Natalie straightened herself in her chair. "Remember that Sunday when I left the church because of that wretched organ-playing that was giving me a splitting headache?"

"Yes. And?" answered an impatient Angelique.

"When I entered the house, the maids looked at me as if I was a ghost. They looked upstairs, and then looked back at me. I thought that something was wrong with Josette, so I ran up the steps to tend to her. I heard moaning from her room, and when I threw opened the door… I saw them, naked in _her_ bed. I was furious at them for you, my dear! I made them get dressed, and gave them the tongue lashing of their lives. Georges begged me to not tell your father or you what has been happening. He said that it was a 'moment of weakness.' Humpf! All men say that, of course. I told him that I would not breathe a word of his indiscretion if he would solidify his bond to you through marriage, and forget Josette. And if he didn't die, you would have been 'Madame DuBois,' my child."

"That doesn't make me feel any better, Aunt Natalie" retorted Angelique, arms crossed.

Natalie replied, pleading her with her eyes, "But he had forsaken Josette for you, Angelique. _For you_!"

"If you didn't come home when you did, they would have still carried on with their affair, Aunt Natalie," countered Angelique.

"Not if he married you."

"Perhaps…perhaps not. After all, Aunt Natalie, Josette has _always_ gotten her way."

Natalie picked up the earbobs. "_Ma cherie_, he swore on the rosary that he would have never returned to Josette's bed ever again, and I believed that he would had kept that oath. Don't let this revelation ruin your memories of him. He _was_ truly repentant."

"Was my sister repentant?" she asked, her chest heaving in anger.

Natalie sighed. "No, she wasn't, but it would not have mattered. He ignored and repudiated her, which annoyed Josette, but what could she do about it? Here," she said, extending her opened palm to Angelique, the earbobs resting upon it, "take the earbobs back."

Angelique pushed her aunt's hand away. "I don't want them."

"But _cherie_-"

"I said that I don't want them! Sell them, bury them, give them away, I don't care. They're as profaned as my love for Georges was. He didn't love me! He only felt bad for taking _my_ sister to bed. Just," she turned away from the sight of them, waving them away, "get them away from me, please."

Natalie sighed. "Alright, Angelique. I'll keep them for you in case you change your mind."

"Mark my words, Aunt Natalie, I won't," she said, bitterly, holding back tears.

After Natalie left Angelique's room, Angelique finally got out of bed, and forced down cold soup and tea into her stomach.

"…you incompetent, brainless, selfish buffoon!"

Joshua Collins, irate, had spat out a long line of insults towards Jeremiah, who returned, unexpectantly, to Collinwood with his new wife, Josette. Joshua was pacing the drawing room of the new house, red-faced, white-knuckled as she squeezed his hands together, trying to get a hold on his temper, before he beat his younger brother into a bloody pulp.

"You and you whore ruined everything! Do you think that anyone cared that you, as you have said,' had a moment of weakness and fell in love?' Do you believe that it would solve our financial problems by you marrying this tramp when the real money was with her sister?"

"I forbid you to further insult Josette, Joshua!" said Jeremiah. He took Josette's arm in his, but she snatched away from him, equally furious at this situation. She turned to the foyer, away from both men's visuals.

Joshua smirked. "Your wife doesn't seem to share your happiness." He addressed Josette. "Have your changed your mind, harlot?"

"I said that's enough!" exclaimed Jeremiah. "This situation is hard on all of us. We got carried away, and got married by mistake."

"And now you wish for an annulment?" guessed Joshua.

"I would rather stay married to free Angelique from any obligation towards me, but Josette wants to reunite with Barnabas. I know that we have hurt everyone involved, but we had, and we can't change the past. We only hope that they'll forgive us and understand."

"Understand what exactly, Jeremiah? That you had married Angelique's sister, and, might I add, _your_ nephew's fiancée, because of sudden affection?"

"Josette and I _were_ in love for two weeks, Joshua."

Josette snorted. He may have wanted to keep her as his wife, but she wasn't going to stay married to him, that's for sure. She was as baffled as he when they woke up at another village's inn together, as man and wife. She knew that Barnabas and Angelique would be furious at the both of them, but she knew, as well as Jeremiah, that they married outside their willpower and, apparently, their desire. She knew who was really responsible for this…'comedy of errors', and when the time comes, she will deal with that ill-begotten witch.

"Do you know how juvenile you sound, Jeremiah? 'Josette and I were in love, Joshua.' You are a fool if you believe that I would remain your wife! I want an annulment, and that's my final word on the subject," she said, now glaring at her 'husband.'

"So you disagree with _your_ husband's assessment about what happened?" asked Joshua, glowering at her.

"I agree with the situation, monsieur, but not his solution. I wish to have an annulment and to return to Barnabas as his betrothed."

"I highly doubt that my son would take you back, _Mademoiselle DuPres_," mocked Joshua.

"_Mrs. Collins_," corrected Jeremiah.

"Either way," continued Joshua, ignoring his brother, "I don't believe that Barnabas would encourage an annulment. Neither would your sister, no doubt. Now the both of you can vacate my drawing room, and explain yourselves to your _former_ betrotheds. Afterwards, I will allow for you and…my brother to stay here in this house for two months, and then I want the both of you out of here and Collinsport."

Jeremiah was stunned. "You would really throw us out, Jeremiah? Even your own flesh and blood?"

"You are no longer a brother to me!" announced Joshua, his chin raised high enough to see his Adam's apple. "You are a temporary border! You and this…woman! I will not allow for you and her to stay and further sully our family's name and reputation. I gave you a chance to bring honor to our family by paring you with a respectable and wealthy young heiress, whose money and family's reputation could have brought you the prestige and career that you wanted. And how do you repay me? By biting the hand that fed you by running off with," he gestured with his hand towards Josette, "her."

Jeremiah swallowed his indignation. "Very well. If it has to be, then so be it. We'll leave in two months' time. Come, Josette."

He went to take her arm again, and again, she snatched away from him. Josette stormed out of the house, with Jeremiah lagging behind. She was determined to get Barnabas back. Even if she has to beg on her hands and knees for his forgiveness, she would do so to have his help in her annulment.

"You stupid, stupid, selfish, wretched girl!"

The words that left her father's lips shocked Josette to the core. He had never spoken to any of his daughters like that! Josette had hoped that her father would have been more sympathetic to her plight, but, as it turned out, he wasn't. Natalie stood in the parlor by the stair railing, glaring at Josette and Jeremiah. However, Natalie hoped that Angelique, whom she knew was still incensed at the situation with Georges, would stay out a little longer on her walk until this situation has been rectified.

Yet, to everyone's amazement, Barnabas was strangely amused by the event taking place in his house. He could have shown his anger towards Jeremiah eloping with Josette on _his_ wedding day, but what would have been the point? He no longer loved Josette, and Jeremiah's stupidity to fall for Josette's feminine wiles had left him free to pursue Angelique. That is, whenever she'd gotten over her anger with Georges DuBois.

His mood was short-lived when Josette walked over to him by the mantle, and looked up at him with those big, brown, puppy-dog eyes of hers. "Barnabas, aren't you going to do something about this? You know that I wouldn't have run away with Jeremiah on my own."

"So you're saying that he forced you?" asked Barnabas, unfazed by her demeanor.

"We were both…'carried away,' that's all. With you ignoring me and favoring Angelique over me-"

"That gave you an excuse to run off with my uncle? Come now, Josette. Do you believe me to be stupid enough to believe that? I will not help you to annul your marriage to Jeremiah, even if you were 'carried away.'"

Andre, a little calmer, stepped up to Barnabas. "You mean, monsieur, that you will not avenge yourself against your uncle? You won't challenge him for your honor, and what's left of my daughter's honor?"

Her father's words stung her again as she dropped her head.

Barnabas boldly looked into Andre's eyes and shook his head. "No, Monsieur DuPres, and to be quite honest, Josette never had any honor to begin with. Not even before Jeremiah married her."

"Take care with what you say next, monsieur," warned Andre. "Josette was chaste before her mistakable marriage to your uncle. I know for certain that she was pure!"

No one noticed that Natalie gulped at Andre's insistence of Josette's chastity.

"Be that as it may," said Barnabas, "however, I will not avenge myself in the way that you think. I shall simply replace Josette with a more…suitable bride."

Suddenly, everyone heard the front door slammed, and saw Angelique, eyes blazing with rage and focused on the two who betrayed her.

Natalie came up to her. "Angelique, _cherie_, why don't we go upstairs-"

"No, Aunt Natalie," said Angelique, making Natalie back away from her by her tone. "I want to confront them. It's my right!"

Natalie moved out of the way, and Angelique faced Jeremiah and Josette. Jeremiah refused to look at her out of guilt while Josette returned her scowl.

Angelique shrugged. "Well, Jeremiah. Do you have anything to say to me?"

He reluctantly raised his head, deciding that she deserved to see his face. "Angelique…I can't explain why or how this happened, but I assure you that my feelings for you in the beginning were genuine."

"You love her?' she asked, gesturing to Josette.

Jeremiah answered, "Not now."

Angelique nodded. "Hmmm. An interesting answer, monsieur. It's too bad that you did marry her. You'll never know what it will be like to have a decent woman in your home."

She then moved in front of Josette. The sisters' eyes matched each other in glares, but differed in color.

"So, are you happy now, Josette? Are you thrilled to take this one last thing from me?"

"Don't be so naïve, Angelique. You can have him back after the annulment," she said, without remorse. "I never wanted him from the beginning."

Angelique's eyebrow cocked. "Really, sister? Really? Did you feel the same way about Georges?"

Josette's scowl disappeared. Her eyes widened as saucers, her skin paled, and she covered her mouth in shock. She turned to Barnabas in disbelief. "You…_you told her_?"

Barnabas wry smile told her everything.

"You—you—betrayed me… _to her_?" she asked, pointing at Angelique.

Andre was confused by this latest revelation, but Jeremiah caught on to it, backing away from his wife to the settee.

"What are you talking about?" asked Andre.

"As I told you, monsieur-"

"I want to hear from my daughters, Mr. Collins!" bellowed Andre. He turned to Angelique. "What do you mean by that, Angelique?"

Josette's eyes pleaded with Angelique to not reveal her second damaging secret to her father (the first being her involvement in Georges' supernatural death), but Angelique has had enough of her. This day would be Josette's ultimate comeuppance.

"Josette and Georges were intimately involved, Papa. Barnabas had revealed it to me himself."

"He lied, Papa! He's trying to get back at me for Jeremiah, and so he could have Angelique!" accused Josette.

"You keep silent!" ordered Andre to Josette, who began weeping. He returned his attention to Angelique. "_Ma cherie_, I know that you are angry with Josette, and I know that Barnabas is angry as well. But is smearing your sister's name is going to reverse everything that happened?"

Angelique looked over to Natalie. "Why don't you ask Aunt Natalie if I am lying, Papa."

Andre turned to sister, who was standing by the stair case throughout the whole time.

"Natalie," he said, taking a few steps to her, "is this true? Has Josette tainted by her own will?"

Natalie hated to see her brother this way, but Josette has taken things too far now. He had to know.

"Yes, Andre. It's true. I caught them myself in her bedroom."

"You keep your mouth shut, you dried-up spinster!" yelled Josette.

"I never wanted you or Angelique to find out. He was going to make amends by marrying Angelique-"

"You should have told me everything, Natalie. Everything! Angelique could have done better than that shopkeeper."

He turned back to Josette. "And you, I gave you everything, including a chance to marry the son of one of the most powerful men in New England, and you repay me by being a whore?"

Josette came up to him, which was a mistake. "Papa, it wasn't my fault with Georges. He seduced me! He said that he would marry me-"

WHACK!

The women gasped and the men were taken aback when Andre DuPres, for the first time in his life, had open-handedly struck one of his daughters. Josette landed on the floor, holding the left side of her face, sobbing uncontrollably. Jeremiah impulsively went to her side while Andre hovered over the both of them.

"She's your problem now, monsieur. And if I were you, I grow eyes in the back of my head before she goes through the whole servant's quarters. While I am still at Collinwood, I will not see…_that_ again," he told Jeremiah, pointing at Josette.

Andre walked up to Barnabas. "Monsieur, I apologize for accusing you of maliciousness towards…_that_ on the floor. However, I ask that you allow me, my sister, and _my daughter_ to stay here until the next ship to Martinique leaves from Collinsport."

Barnabas, seeing this moment as his opportunity, bargained, "Only if I may have Angelique's hand in marriage."

Angelique glared at Barnabas, but was stunned at her father's answer.

"Done," agreed Andre, shaking Barnabas' hand. "I congratulate you and Angelique on your new-found engagement. My oldest daughter has always been bred to run a household such as this, and I am sure that the both of you will be happy together."

"I'm not marrying anyone," declared Angelique. "I will not be shuffled from one man to another to save face!"

"You must," demanded Andre, storming up to her. "You sister has failed our family, and sullied our name. _You will_ redeem us, Angelique."

Angelique shook her head. "I won't. I won't!"

She went to run up the steps, but Andre caught her by her arm. "If you don't do your duty for your family, you will not return to Martinique with us."

Angelique smirked bitterly, the same expression as his wife appearing on her face. "You've forgotten my inheritance from my grandfather, monsieur. I'll be glad to finally leave _your_ household."

She tore herself from her father and ran upstairs to her room, doing her own sobbing.


	10. Chapter 10

***Thanks again for everyone's reviews and support, especially reviewers .944 and kaleen1212. Thanks for joining in :)

Later that evening, Angelique was finishing her bath when someone knocked on her door.

"Who's there?" she called, quickly putting on her dressing gown.

"It's the countess, Angelique, and I demand to speak to you immediately."

Angelique knew that when her aunt used her title in that self-important tone of hers, that meant that the topic was urgent. When Angelique opened the door, Countess DuPres briskly passed by her niece without acknowledgement.

"I see that whatever you wish to speak to me about _is_ serious," said Angelique, closing the door. "Is there something wrong, Aunt Natalie?"

Natalie sat on Angelique's bed, after neatly removing her niece's orange gown out of the way. "Would you kindly sit with me?"

Angelique sighed and sat next to her aunt. Natalie turned a slight angle towards Angelique, hands folded in her lap, and said, "Angelique, _cherie,_ I would like to speak to you about what happened this afternoon."

Exasperated, Angelique replied, "If you're here on Papa's behalf to persuade me to marry Barnabas Collins, you're wasting your time, Aunt Natalie."

"Are you going to let me finish?"

Angelique sighed and gestured for Natalie to continue.

"I am, as a matter of fact, speaking on _my_ behalf, not your father's, but I do agree with him that you should marry Barnabas. But only," she said, holding up her finger to stop Angelique from protesting, "because it was meant to be."

"Aunt Natalie, what are you talking about?"

"Remember when I read your fortune from the tarot cards?"

Angelique narrowed her eyes. "Yes, but why does that matter? It was only a game, as you said."

"It is _not_ a game," she said, her eyes revealing the seriousness of her claim. "It's real. I had an actual vision from your reading that you would indeed marry Barnabas Collins."

"Aunt Natalie, I don't find this amusing," said Angelique, standing up. She went over to her trunk to take out her chemise and stays when Natalie came up behind her and turned her to face her aunt.

"Do you really believe that I would manufacture a fantasy to convince you to marry him?"

With her chemise tossed over her shoulder, Angelique shook her head. "Forgive me, Aunt Natalie, but I don't know what to believe anymore. And besides that, if you had a vision that I would marry Barnabas, then why did you 'predict' that I would marry Jeremiah?"

"Because at first, I couldn't believe what I was seeing. I did several readings on your prospective marriage afterwards, and it turned out the same. You are destined to marry Barnabas. Even what happened today proves it!"

"I don't care what happened today. I don't want to marry someone who would take advantage of Josette's situation, despite my feelings towards her. Also, I don't love him."

Now it was Natalie's turn to sigh. "I know that you don't love him, and his actions today were…inappropriate, but I always thought that you were fond of him, considering that he seemed fond of you."

"Oh, he _is_ fond of me…in more ways than one," said Angelique.

"What do you mean by that?" asked Natalie, raising an eyebrow.

Angelique moved around Natalie, and began to dress. After a moment, Natalie realized Angelique's meaning behind her statement.

"Angelique," said Natalie, giving her a niece a side-long glance, "is there something between you and Barnabas that we are unaware of?"

"No, Aunt Natalie, but he was always infatuated with me since Martinique, or rather after he discovered Josette's impurity, and tried his best to seduce me."

After tying her stays, Angelique sat back on her bed with Natalie and recounted Barnabas' first attempt at seducing her at their family's gazebo. Next, Angelique told her about the sapphire and diamond jewelry that he gave her as a 'peace offering', and the stories connected to them.

"Perhaps in hindsight, Aunt Natalie, I should have steadfastly rejected the gift, but he seemed so sincere in wanting to be my friend, and secretly, I wanted to take a remnant of what Josette was getting as his wife. After all, he said that there would be plenty of jewels left for her. Yet, afterwards, I noticed that he kept staring at me with those…lustful gazes of his. Most likely, Josette noticed as well, and she seduced Jeremiah as her revenge against me. However, I was content to become Jeremiah's wife until he betrayed me. Now, you and Papa want me to shift my fidelity to Barnabas to save face, and to honor some contracts! I didn't want to marry Jeremiah or anyone from the beginning, and you knew that. Now you and him are pushing me to marry Barnabas? No, Aunt Natalie, I will not marry him."

"May I make a suggestion?" asked Natalie, determined.

"You may," replied Angelique, not liking whatever Natalie was about to 'suggest'.

"I believe that you should speak to Barnabas about this matter."

"Aunt Natalie-"

"Let me finish. Your father has been suffering greatly from finding out about Josette's dishonor. She shattered his pride and faith in her. Whether you know it or not, he always had faith and pride in _you_. He needs _you_ to reclaim his pride, our family's pride. What if, somehow, one of your father's New England peers come to island, and tell all of our friends and acquaintances of what happened with Josette? They will wag their tongues towards us, and you know it. Therefore, you should speak to Barnabas…with a list of demands."

Natalie got up and sat at Angelique's writing desk. "Come over here and give me your first demand."

Angelique did as she was told, but refused to go along with making this 'list of demands.'

"Aunt Natalie, I refuse-"

"Angelique, this is not the time to be stubborn. I am not in the habit of forcing you to do anything against your will, but I believe that those visions are true, and that Barnabas Collins sincerely wants you as his wife. Also, you were trained, ever since childhood, to run an estate such as Collinwood. _You_ are a strong, dignified, firm, respectable, and proud member of a long line of Dupreses. You are more than worthy to carry our lineage into _this_ household, with _that_ man, and pass on you qualities to your children and grandchildren. And don't worry: he'll agree to your terms if that is what's troubling you. He's desperate to have you, if you haven't noticed. Now, what is your first demand?"

Barnabas was glad to see that Angelique had joined him at his dinner table with her father and aunt. Although Andre was still annoyed with Angelique, he managed to be civil towards his oldest daughter, in hopes that she would change her mind about Barnabas. His optimism elevated when Angelique asked Barnabas to speak with him after dinner in private, in which Barnabas had happily agreed.

"Thank you for choosing to speak to me this evening, Angelique," he said, as he closed the door to his study. Angelique seated herself in front of Barnabas' desk, and waited until he seated himself behind it, before speaking.

"I think that today's events warrant a civil conversation," she replied. "Forgive me for being blunt, but Barnabas, I don't want to marry you."

"You could have at least waited until I asked you," he said.

"Earlier, you did not bother to ask me at all. Instead, you bargained with my father, in front of _everyone_, to have my hand in marriage, which was humiliating for me."

"I was wrong to request your hand in that manner, and I apologize."

She nodded. "You will not truly avenge yourself against Jeremiah?"

"No," he answered. "Why should I? There was no honor left to avenge my ties to your sister to begin with. Your sister, as I said before, is a whore. An opportunist whore at that. She wanted very much to live in the new house, and she got her wish with _her_ husband. It's only too bad that Jeremiah was foolish enough to be seduced by her."

"As you were in the past," she countered.

He nodded. "As I was. Angelique, when I asked your father for your hand, my intentions were honorable. I am truthfully in love with you, and I am willing to do all in my power to make you happy with me. I only need your consent to prove it."

"Barnabas, you were going to marry Josette at one point. Also, you were in love with her enough to reject your father's favor of me as your wife. I know that you have…carnal desires for me, but how could you be in love with me after all of that? You hardly know me. If Josette would not have run away, you would have married her, no?"

"To honor our contracts, yes, but I would had still loved you, even on my wedding night with Josette. Furthermore, if I knew that you were a warm and affectionate woman, as you were towards Jeremiah, I would have found a rival in Monsieur DuBois to have you."

"But I wouldn't have returned your affections either way, Barnabas. Despite your flirtatious interaction with Josette, you seemed so arrogant and cold that I would not have been flattered by you at all."

"Surely you don't still think so?"

"You're not as high and mighty as I thought with the way you treat Ben Stokes and the other servants, and the way you defended your mother against your father's tirades. However, you do have the air of an arrogant elitist."

"Only when it's called for," he smiled, his teeth glistening white.

"Why did you give me the sapphire and diamond jewelry?" she asked. "It couldn't have been just about 'making peace' with me."

"And you're right," he said. "It wasn't just about making peace with you. I was 'priming the pump,' so to speak, in luring you into becoming my sole mistress."

Angelique icily stared at him. "Did you really believe that I would be unfaithful to Jeremiah for you? Are you so arrogant to believe that I would give up my vows as a wife for your devious intention?"

Barnabas shrugged. "It would have been worth a try. But now, that's no longer a factor. Our former betrotheds had married each other, and there are still contracts to be honored."

"So you wish to marry me for the contracts?"

"I want to marry you because I love you, whether you believe it or not. Also, I want to marry you because I deserve you."

Angelique blinked in disbelief. "_You…deserve…me?"_

"Yes," he answered, matter-of-factly. "You are everything that I could possibly want in a wife. You carry yourself with grace and dignity as my mother had, even now when she isn't…intoxicated. I need a good, kind, firm, and intelligent wife who is capable of running my household and rearing my children. You and Jeremiah did plan to have children, did you?"

"Of course," she spat, still annoyed by his opinion of 'deserving' her.

"Good. Then I see no reason why we shouldn't marry. Will you agree to become my wife, Angelique?"

Angelique straightened herself in the chair and folded her hands. "Only if you agree to my terms."

This caught Barnabas off guard. "Terms?"

"Yes," she said, smiling. "You see, Barnabas, as you know, I have been betrayed by two fiancés, and I am not in the mood to be engaged again. However, due to the contracts, and the shame that Josette has brought upon my family, it seems that my marriage to you would be the only solution to make things right. Yet, if I marry you, I want to be sure that just in case you fall under my sister's 'spell' again, I would be handsomely compensated for my humiliation. Also, I have my terms in writing as well for you and I, with places for witness's signatures, to sign once we discussed this."

Barnabas understood Angelique's reservations, and nodded. "I see. What are your terms?"

"First," she said, locking gazes with him, "I require, and _deserve,_ complete honesty, love, devotion, and fidelity on your part. I will return the same to you as my husband. However, if you deprive me of such qualities, then I will like to be freed through a separation, with any children we conceive. Do you agree?"

"I agree. You have nothing to fear since I intend to be faithful to you. Anything else?"

"Yes. For compensation of what Josette has done to me for the past two years, you will persuade my father to increase my inheritance to another fifty percent, and decrease Josette's to zero percent."

Barnabas cocked an eyebrow. "You mean that you want to inherit everything from your father, and have him to leave Josette with nothing?"

Angelique gave him a mischievous smile. "I think that she has taken and squandered enough already. She should discover what it is like to have everything taken from her, as I had."

"Your father may not agree."

"In his mood, Barnabas, and in his desperation, I'm sure that he'll agree."

"I don't know, but I will prepare a counter offer in case he refuses."

Angelique didn't like the sound of that, but at least she'll be getting the majority of Andre DuPres' estate. "I suppose."

"Will you become my wife?" he asked again.

Angelique really had wanted to say no, but her family's reputation and name were on the line, and Barnabas did agree to her terms. "I will become your wife, Barnabas."

Barnabas smiled jubilantly. "Excellent! Now, we will announce our good news to our families, but I will like to see your handwritten terms, as I'm sure that your father will as well."

"You and he shall once you have spoken with my father first about it, Barnabas."

"Of course, my dear. I promise you that you won't regret your decision to marry me. I shall make you very happy as my wife. Would you like to go to Boston for our honeymoon?"

"Of all of the misfortunes I could ever encounter, I had to have ended up marrying a whore."

Jeremiah downed the rest of his toddy as Josette frantically paced the drawing room.

"Will you be quiet? I could also state my own misfortune of being married to a penniless architect," she raved. The black and blue bruise on her left jaw made her look severe.

"Well, my dear, we're married, and we'll just have to adjust to our new situation."

"_I_ don't have to adjust to anything. This marriage _will_ be annulled. I just need to somehow get Papa to speak to me, and get Barnabas to have me back."

"You father doesn't want to see you, Josette. He made himself very clear at the original house. And as for Barnabas, he already set his sights on Angelique."

Josette stopped in front of him. "Angelique won't marry him! She's going to be a spinster like Natalie for the rest of her life, and Barnabas only asked for her hand because he's angry with me. Why don't you do something useful like speaking to your brother about having our marriage annulled? I'm sure that he'll be happy to talk to you about the prospects of doing so."

"I'm sure that he'll be thrilled about the prospect, but what will you do, Josette, when Barnabas rejects you again? Where will you go?"

"I will live here, in that _old house_, as his wife! He won't marry Angelique! I'm going to see him tomorrow."

"No, you will not," said Jeremiah. He got up and set his mug on the liquor cabinet. She glared at him.

"I will do as I please!"

"You're my wife, and you will obey my order! You will _not_ go over there."

"And what shall you do about it, beggar? Beat me?"

"Don't tempt me," he warned.

"Did we come at a bad time?"

Jeremiah and Josette turned to see Barnabas and Angelique standing in the drawing room doorway in their cloaks, appearing very much in high spirits.

"Barnabas, my love!" exclaimed Josette, ecstatic. "I knew you would return-"

Barnabas held up his hand to stop her. "No, Josette. Angelique and I have come to announce that we are to marry in three weeks."

Josette's loving exterior transformed to into panic and rage. "No! You can't marry her! You love me! You just need time to get over your anger towards me. You don't love this pallid cow!" she screamed, scowling at Angelique, who only smirked at her sister's raging.

"Josette, I will not have you to speak to my fiancée in that manner! I will admit that I thought that I loved you, but I realized that it was never you whom I loved. It was, and always has been, Angelique."

"You're lying!" She approached Angelique. "You tell him that you never loved him! Tell him that you're not getting married to him. Tell him!"

Angelique gazed at Josette with mock concern. "Josette, sister _dear_, why are you so hysterical? And over my new engagement? Are you not…_happy_ for me?"

"You will not marry him!"

"How will you stop me?"

"Alright, the both of you. Stop it!" ordered Barnabas. He wasn't going to let the sisters ruin his triumphant night with arguments and threats. "We're also here to ask you and Jeremiah to stand for us at our wedding."

Josette's face reddened and she gritted her teeth. "I will not stand for her!"

Jeremiah intervened in this three-way interaction. "Barnabas, Angelique, we will be _more than happy_ to stand up for the both of you. However, I must say that three weeks is a rather short period for your wedding to take place, isn't it?"

"It is no different from your and Josette's impromptu marriage," commented Angelique, sarcastically.

Barnabas patted her hand. "Now, now, Angelique dear. We are all friendly here."

She turned to Barnabas. "I don't mind being friendly, Barnabas, but I do mind our wedding date being questioned by one who couldn't honor his own wedding date. Or her own."

She matched glares with Josette. Jeremiah looked down in shame.

"Either way, my dear, that's in the past." He turned to Jeremiah. "I would like to be able to take Angelique to Boston before the snow comes for our honeymoon. You understand."

"You're taking _her_ to Boston?" asked Josette, surprised and hurt.

"Why shouldn't I, my dear… _aunt_?" asked Barnabas, regarding her with cold eyes and tone.

Josette turned from him, stifling her emotions.

"Of course," agreed Jeremiah. "As I said, we will be more than happy to do so. It is…only fair that we show our respect for you since Josette and I had blatantly disrespected you. I only hope that the both of you can forgive us one day."

Although Angelique didn't show it, she was touched by Jeremiah's genuine attempt at amendment. However, it didn't change the fact that he senselessly betrayed her for her own sister.

"Thank you, Jeremiah. You are a prime example of how one in our class should behave," Barnabas said, purposefully looking at Josette.

"I only have one request," said Jeremiah.

"Go on," nodded Barnabas.

"Since we agreed to stand for you, I would like for the two of you to go to Joshua on our behalf, and convince him to let us live here for at least a year, and to gather clients for me for my architect career."

Thoughtfully, Barnabas replied, "Well, you did soil your reputation with the good businessmen of our society, but I think that we can go to Father on your behalf. Don't you think so, Angelique, my love?"

Angelique turned to Barnabas, smiling, while Josette looked as if she wanted to vomit. "Considering that Jeremiah and Josette are family, my dear, it would be…_uncharitable_ of us to not have them to remain at Collinwood."

Barnabas beamed. "Well, then it's settled. We'll talk to Father although, knowing him, it will not be an easy conversation. Is he still up?"

"Yes," replied Jeremiah. "He's barricaded himself in his study until Josette and I have retired to our room."

"I see. Angelique and I will go to him now. Just in case we do not see you, good night."

As Barnabas and Angelique walked away, Angelique's eyes lingered on Josette, presenting a victorious gleam while Josette glared fire at her.

Josette watched them until they disappeared behind the study's door. _I must get that Roulette bitch to fix her mistake immediately._

She ran up the steps to write an emergency letter to Bette, demanding to meet her as soon as possible.


	11. Chapter 11 (December)

After much damage control and bargaining conversations, Barnabas and Angelique were prepared to marry on the day that was intended for her and Jeremiah. Also, Barnabas, with Joshua's permission, managed to find some local businesses for Jeremiah, constructing new edifices for local merchants and farmers. Although Jeremiah hated the idea of working on such a small scale, he accepted the commissions as his penance for his actions, hoping that someday, someone of his family's status would employ him. Josette had fruitlessly tried to convince Barnabas to reconcile with her whenever he visited the new house or whenever she saw him on the property. In addition, she sent four letters to Bette Roulette, demanding to meet her, but the secretary/ sorceress never answered her in return. Josette was desperately losing patience and time. If she could not get in contact with Bette, then she would have to somehow get through to Angelique that Barnabas would never love her as he loved Josette, and that Angelique would always love Jeremiah.

A week before the wedding, Bette came to Natalie with some disturbing news for her employer.

"You want to leave my employ, Bette? Why? Haven't I always been fair to you? Haven't I always shown you kindness? Are your current wages influencing your decision?" asked Natalie, bewildered.

The young woman fidgeted with her cuffs. "No, Madame Countess. It's personal."

Bette turned away from Natalie, only to be faced by the brooding, paled-faced spirit of Georges DuBois, who was there to make sure that Bette broke her ties to the family for good and exiled herself forever. However, he was unseen by the Countess, who was unsettled by Bette's sudden trembles.

Natalie walked up behind her. "Bette? Did anyone harm you here? Was it the servants? Or someone in the village?"

"No, Madame Countess. I just need to return to France," she answered, intimidated by Georges' scowl.

"What would you do there? Remember that you left for better opportunities in Martinique—"

"I am aware of that, Madame Countess, but I think I should leave…for my own good."

Natalie turned her secretary to face her, and was stunned to see that Bette was sweating immensely, and obviously frightened out of her wits.

"Bette, it's obvious that something is terrifying you. What is it? Or rather _who_ is it?"

Before Bette could say anything, she felt Georges' cold and bated breath on her ear lobe.

"There's nothing wrong, madame," she sobbed. "Please just let me go!"

Natalie felt sorry for Bette. She wished that she could help her, but whoever put this fear in her, had scared her badly enough to not tell what happened. However, the countess would not free her until after they left Collinwood. Perhaps then, she thought, she could persuade Bette to tell her what happened to her, and to stay in her employ.

"Bette, _cherie_, I won't question you further on this matter, but I want you to stay here until after the wedding, and leave with Monsieur DuPres and me for Martinique. If you still have your heart set on returning to France, then I will free you with a substantial severance pay. Do you agree?"

Georges' cold breath chilled Bette' ear again. _Agree to her term,_ he whispered.

Bette nodded, shaken. "_Oui_. I'll stay, madame.

Natalie smiled in relief. "Good, _ma cherie_. Now, I want you to go to your room and rest. I'll have that maid, Stella, to bring you some tea. You're dismissed."

"_Merci_, Madame Countess." Bette curtsied and left the countess' room.

The next day, while Andre, Barnabas, and Natalie were absent from the Old House, as it was now being called, Angelique was reading by the fire when she heard a knock at the door. She answered it, finding Josette to be the unexpected and unwelcomed visitor.

"Oh, Josette," greeted Angelique, taciturn.

"Hello, Angelique," said she, impassively.

"You look well. Your face is healing."

"_Merci_."

Bored with the civility, Angelique outright asked, "What are you doing here? You know that Papa and Aunt Natalie don't want you here until they leave."

"And Barnabas? Does he feel the same way?"

"He respects their wishes."

"Are they here?" asked Josette, looking over Angelique's shoulder.

"None of them are here for now. They will return soon from the village."

"Is Barnabas with them?"

"I think you know that he is at the main house with his father."

"Of course he is," remembered Josette. "May I come in? I need to speak to you?"

Angelique folded her arms, suspicious of Josette. "About what?"

"Can we talk inside, Angelique? It is rather cold out here," requested Josette, slightly shivering.

Angelique sighed and allowed Josette to enter the house. Although she was glad that the bruise was fading from her face, Angelique did not want Josette to stay in her present for long, making it clear by not taking Josette's cloak and bonnet.

The sisters stood face to face in the parlor, blue eyes locked with brown eyes, as Angelique waited for Josette to talk.

"Well?" shrugged Angelique.

"I came here to reason with you," replied Josette.

"About what?" asked Angelique, her eyebrow raised.

"About you marrying Barnabas. Despite the contracts, there is no reason for you to do this."

"Obviously, you have forgotten that I wouldn't be marrying him if it wasn't for you and your wanton behavior."

Josette threw her hands up in acknowledgement. "I know that I have sinned against God, Barnabas, Papa, and you, but the fact remains that you don't love Barnabas as I do. Wouldn't you like to have a husband to truly love, Angelique, and not someone whom you don't love? Jeremiah would be opened to the idea of returning to you if you wait for him and me to have our marriage annulled."

"Did he tell you that?" asked Angelique.

"Not in so many words, but I'm sure that he would be better suited for you than Barnabas. Both of you are much more compatible than you and Barnabas."

"Just like Georges and I were compatible before you sank you claws into him."

"Must you always bring up the past?"

"Only when it's being repeated."

"Let's not argue, sister dear. I am trying to help you see that Barnabas is not a good match for you, despite the contracts and Papa's anger at me."

"First, Josette _dear_, I am your sister, but was never your _dear_ sister," corrected Angelique. "I supposed that you don't realize that my inheritance from our grandfather, who died before you were born, mind you, had left me an immense fortune that the Collins family is dying to claim for their ships' replacements. I am doing my duty as a daughter by marrying Barnabas so that Papa could reclaim the pride and dignity that you managed to trampled upon in a space of over a year."

Josette lost her patience with her sister. "It happened, Angelique! Do you want me to apologize for Georges and Jeremiah? Fine! I'm sorry! Now, promise me that you will not marry Barnabas."

Angelique slowly and deliberately shook her head. "No."

"No?" questioned Josette.

"No. Why should I give up an eligible bachelor as Barnabas Collins, especially when he made himself clear on more than one occasion that he wanted _me_? Especially since you have taken everything I had ever held dear to me from my parasols to my fiancés. You know," she said, walking to the mantle, her back to Josette, "after the night that you allowed him in your bed, he made…inappropriate gestures to me in our gazebo. Of course, being engaged to Jeremiah, I rebuffed him, but while you and Jeremiah were away, he kissed me, and I rebuffed him again because I thought that he was an opportunist. However, thinking about it now, his kisses and touches were, how shall I say it? Thrilling."

Angelique knew that saying that would get under Josette's skin, causing her to seethe.

"Ha! And everyone calls me a whore!"

"And you still are a whore, sister _dear_," countered Angelique, "but unlike you, I knew how to say no. Now, since there is no point in continuing this discussion, I suggest that you leave before Papa and Aunt Natalie return."

"Will you think about what you're doing?" pleaded Josette. "You don't love Barnabas, you love Jeremiah! You will always love Jeremiah! Despite your new-found attachment to my former fiancé, you can never love Barnabas, and Barnabas could never really love you. Despite his anger towards me, he still loves _me_ and always will. And furthermore, you can't even stand for him to touch you! You said you found his touches thrilling, but I believe that you loathed him putting his hands on you, which is really too bad for you since Barnabas is a _very_ carnal man. He will expect for you to lie on you back and open your legs without protest or challenges. Do you think that you could love, honor, and obey _your_ future husband in the _biblical_ sense?"

"Perhaps you should take your own advice concerning _your_ own husband, Josette. Now get out!"

Before Josette turned the doorknob, she said, "I look forward to hearing how Barnabas was disappointed with a celibate honeymoon, sister _dear_."

However, Angelique had more fight in her and stopped Josette. "One more thing before you leave, sister _dear_. Your second comeuppance will begin as soon as Papa and Aunt Natalie return to Martinique."

Annoyed by Angelique's cryptic statement, Josette asked, facing her, "What are you talking about?"

Angelique's smile widened as she approached Josette. "I had certain terms agreed upon in exchange for me marrying Barnabas. Would you like to know what they are?"

"Just tell me so I can leave," said Josette, exasperated.

"Very well. I was going to keep this to myself until after Papa died, but I suppose that you should know: not only did I make Barnabas promise to be faithful and loyal to me, but I also had him to persuade Papa to leave his whole estate to me, while leaving you with nothing."

Josette gasped. "You scheming bitch!"

"Why so angry? You should be proud that I learned to scheme from you, sister _dear_. Anyway, as Barnabas had predicted, Papa did not agree to that term, but he did agree to leave you ten percent of it since he concluded that you would had squandered it anyway."

"You will pay for this, Angelique. You will pay dearly. And mark my words: Barnabas _will_ come back to me. You'll see."

With that, Josette slammed the door behind her. Although Angelique had won this battle, she grudgingly agreed that Josette had a point. Angelique had to resign herself to being touched by Barnabas. But could she do so in time before the wedding?

After dinner, Barnabas and Angelique sat together on the settee by the fire discussing their wedding and Boston. Ever since they announced their engagement, they have been spending more time together, getting reacquainted before their marriage. Despite trying to adjust to his physical affections towards her, and Angelique softening towards Barnabas' charm, she still had reservations about him being a good husband. She couldn't understand how a man like him could ignore her for her sister, plan to seduce her when after he married said sister, and then happily court her when things with said sister goes awry. These strange turns in Angelique's life unsettled her, but she resolved to try and adjust to those changes in order to be the kind of wife that Barnabas expects.

"Angelique?" said Barnabas.

"Yes?" she answered, distracted from the dancing orange flames in the hearth.

"You are quite beautiful this evening. But then again, you are always beautiful at any time of the day."

"Thank you, Barnabas. That is very sweet of you," she beamed, clasping his hand.

Barnabas edged closer to her, elevating her anxiety. She tried to push it out of her mind, but when Barnabas made a bee-line to her neck, she pushed him away.

Barnabas sighed, exasperated by his bride's inability to accept his affections. "Angelique, my dear, we're going to be married in a few days. You must get used to my touching you."

"I'm sorry, Barnabas," she said, turning to him, "but if I had a little more time, I'm sure that I could adjust properly."

"Unfortunately, we don't have much time, Angelique, which is most strange since you adjusted yourself quickly to marrying Jeremiah and to his advances."

Angelique glared at him. "I had _months_ to adjust to marrying Jeremiah, Barnabas. Unlike my sister, I am unable to so easily give myself from one man to another on the spur of a moment."

Angelique turned from him, arms folded, concentrating on the fire.

"Angelique," said Barnabas, apologetic, "I didn't mean to be insensitive to your situation, but we have to be comfortable with showing each other affections if we are to marry, and if we are to…procreate."

"I know, but it's not easy for me," she said, still turned from him.

Barnabas had an idea. "Angelique, look at me."

She did although her eyes were watered from frustration. He held out his hand to her. "Let me take your hand, my darling."

Angelique placed her hand in his, and he began to circle her palm gently with the tips of his fingers. Both of them were intently focused on what was taking place as Angelique felt herself being…aroused. He then kissed it, lightly touching it with the tip of his tongue that made Angelique exhale in arousal. Next, he pulled her into his arms into an embrace.

He whispered, "Think of me as what Georges DuBois and Jeremiah could not be for you, my love: your ally, your protector, your soul mate…your _lover_." This time, she didn't pull away from him. Angelique allowed herself to relax with him, taking in his broad shoulders and chest, being embraced by his strong, toned arms, feeling secured and safe in his embrace as if nothing could happen to her as long as he held her.

He tipped her face to his, gazing into her eyes. "Surrender to my love, my darling. Surrender…" He placed his lips on her, kissing her with a passion that she never experienced. A wanton, desirous, sensual kiss that she knew would have gotten her on her back instantly if her father and aunt weren't in the library, and could easily come into the parlor at any time. She shoved him off her.

"We have to stop before something else happens," said Angelique, panting.

Barnabas, however, smirked at the effect he now had on her. "It's too bad. I would have loved to take you to _my_ room this evening."

"I think you could wait a few more days, Barnabas," she said, trying to hide her blush.

"Did you enjoy that?"

"Oh, I did, I truly did," she said, blushing. "I look forward to more of it…on our wedding night, of course. I only wish that I could say that I love you, but I don't."

"Not yet you do," he interjected, "but you will come to love me as I already love you, and all of our nights together will be filled with love and passion for the rest of our lives together."

"That sounds lovely."

"Sweet Angelique, you have no idea how lovely it can get. I wish to kiss you again."

Angelique eagerly complied. "Alright."

As they engaged in another kiss, Georges DuBois watched them from behind the settee, standing over them unnoticed, his presence not felt. Although he felt a tinge of jealousy, he knew that he couldn't stop Angelique from being with this man, who promised her more of a romantic and happy life than he or Jeremiah Collins could give her. Once they were married, Bette Roulette would be out of the way, and then, he could focus on taking his wrath out on Josette DuPres Collins.

It was snowing on Angelique's wedding day. It was the most beautiful scenery that she ever seen in her life besides those from her former tropical paradise home. She sat by the window, already dressed, as the soft, white flakes covered the ground in a blanket of frosted droplets. Three nights before, Barnabas had kindly bought her a third wedding gown to wear for _their_ wedding: a white gown, embroidered in silver threading at the skirt, the bodice, and into the veil itself, attached to a silver tiara. Nothing but the best for the bride of Barnabas Collins, he told her. In exchange for his kindness, she gave him the gift of watching her second wedding dress for her marriage to Jeremiah burn in a bon fire. Along with the dress, he asked her to wear the sapphire and diamond earbobs and necklace, giving her attire a bit of color. She thought that she looked the picture of a winter bride.

"Angelique," said Natalie, startling her niece from her thoughts, "stop staring out that window, and put on your cape and your muffs. This blasted snow may not stop in time for us to arrive at that Protestant church."

Once Angelique was properly dressed in a white cape, lined in white fur, and white muffs, Natalie literally dragged her out of the room, down the stairs, and into the coach.

As they rode to the church, Angelique tried to keep warm in the hooded cape, but the cold air was seeping under it, freezing her exposed chest.

_I know that Barnabas had wanted me to look my best for our wedding, but why did he have to buy me this dress that exposed my bosom? I might end up being too sick to consummate my marriage tonight,_ she grumbled thoughtfully.

Inside of the Protestant church, where the cream of Collinsport society eagerly anticipated to see the 'angelic and virginal' daughter of Andre DuPres, Barnabas, in a red waistcoat, black suit and neck cloth, awaited her at the altar, as she was escorted by her father. Along with Barnabas were Jeremiah, who stood with him, and Josette, who looked decent enough in silver blue, frowned upon her sister, unbefitting for a maid of honor who had no honor in the first place. Although Jeremiah marveled at Angelique's beauty, he was disappointed that her gown for him was destroyed by fire, as told to him by a gloating Barnabas. He wished that he could go back in time and prevent the affair that he had with Josette that caused him to betray his former fiancée with shameless indifference. No matter how many times he thought about it, he couldn't figure out why he did take her as a lover and married her, but he wished that he ignored his strange feelings for her, and married Angelique as he wanted. Even now, he still loved Angelique. Despite that, he now had a part to play. He had to play the loyal and devoted husband to a woman that he couldn't tolerate being in the same room. Yet, he made sure that Josette would never benefit from his plans for Angelique by burning the plans for the house he wanted to build for him and Angelique the night before, relishing the thought of Josette suffering by watching her former beaux marry her worst enemy, and eventually building a life and family together. Jeremiah would never stand in the way of Angelique's much-deserved happiness.

Josette stood rigidly by her sister as she listened to her and Barnabas take their vows to each other. She couldn't believe how thrilled Barnabas was to say 'I do!' She was most surprised to note that Angelique was equally thrilled about taking Barnabas as her beloved husband. And then he put the wedding band on her finger. Josette felt ill enough to vomit where she stood. She wished that he could find comfort with her father, but he refused to look at her or even acknowledge her presence. The people in the pews gave her disapproving looks and whispered about her, shaking their heads. It wasn't her fault that everything turned out chaotic! It was Bette's. She ruined everything! Josette was not surprised to see the witch herself sitting in the house of God amongst everybody else. After all, she thought, one can always find a few sinners amongst saints in a church.

An hour later, Barnabas and Angelique returned to Collinwood as husband and wife. In between the food and the festivities at the main house, Angelique, Natalie, and a sober Naomi were able to entertain the female guests while Barnabas and Joshua persuaded their peers and colleagues to take an interest in Jeremiah's workmanship on the main house. While some of them were reluctant to consider him for any future projects, others were willing to discuss with him some prospective propositions for the spring. On the other hand, Josette stayed to herself, nursing a glass of champagne until she saw Bette, standing against the wall, across the ball room. After she finished her glass, she maneuvered across the room, careful in her balance, and sidled next to Bette.

"You never answered my letters, witch," she grumbled, low enough so no one else could hear.

"I don't have to, according to your aunt and father, Josette," replied Bette, observing the guests dancing and conversing.

"That's Mrs. Collins to you," Josette corrected. "We have to talk about your blunder, or I will tell everyone about you."

"They'll dismiss you as a bitter woman whose trying to ruin her sister's wedding out of jealously, Josette. How many glasses of champagne did you have? Perhaps you should lay down before you make a spectacle of yourself," warned Bette.

"They'll believe me once I tell these… 'puritanical' New Englanders of your talent for the black arts, which will explain how I inexplicably married Jeremiah instead of my one true love. And everyone will believe it because it would make sense, and deep down, you know it's true."

Conceding to Josette's threat, Bette rolled her eyes and turned to her. "Where would you like to talk about this supposed 'blunder', Mrs. Collins?"

Josette's mouth quirked into a self-satisfied smile. "In your room at the Old House, as it's now called. You will leave first, and I will follow in twenty minutes."

"Very well," sighed Bette, making her way through the crowd to inform Natalie that she was returning to the Old House to start packing. Natalie gave her leave, and Bette left. Josette briskly passed everyone ten minutes later to make her way to the Old House.

Twenty minutes later, Josette arrived outside of Bette's room. Ben and Stella were not in the house since they were helping to serve at the reception, assuring Josette and Bette of complete privacy. She banged at Bette's door. Bette opened it and Josette stormed in with light snowflakes on her cloak.

"Snowing again?" Bette asked, unconcerned.

"The guests are starting to leave and Barnabas has changed his mind about taking that pallid cow to Boston. Thank heavens for New England snow!" she mused.

"That won't stop him from having her tonight, Josette. He'll have her here or Boston. Nothing you can do to stop it."

"Maybe not tonight, but tomorrow is another day, Bette. A day for you to correct your mistake. But first, I want to know why didn't the potion work, and how did I become Jeremiah's wife when I despise the penniless architect?"

Bette answered, sternly, "The potion had no power to it. It was brewed tea water. And to answer your second question, it was more or less requested of me that you and jeremiah become lovers, leading to marriage and consummation. As you might have guessed, the spell lasted until after the consummation."

Josette grabbed Bette by her arms, shaking her. "And who else would have a reason to prevent me from marrying Barnabas besides you for your supposed payment? Who requested it?!"

"Monsieur Georges DuBois."

Josette dropped her hands from Bette's arms, and stepped back from the witch, shaking her head. "No…no! The jeweler is dead!"

"Not his vengeful spirit, Josette. He planned to kill the both of us if I didn't do what he wanted. So, I did, and he's sparing me by making me an exile from the DuPres household. As for you, he has something special planned. In fact, he gave me a message for you: Josette DuPres will die, falling, falling, falling off of Widow's Hill, breaking her slender neck as you caused for him to break his!"

"I don't believe you. And furthermore, you will rectify what you've done by killing Angelique and Jeremiah."

"I will do no such thing, Josette."

"My name is Madame Collins to you, and you will!"

"I can't speak for Jeremiah, but if you think Monsieur DuBois is going to let you harm your sister, he won't. He loved her when he was alive, and he still loves her now. But you, you will be dragged to the fiery pits of Hell with me when it's your time. Nothing will go right for you, Josette Collins. Every time that you try to intervene in your sister's happiness, you will receive misery twice over. Now, if you don't mind, I have to pack."

Josette was furious at _this servant_ who ignored her to pack her measly belongings. How dare she deny her requests! Looking around the room, Josette spotted an iron vase, grabbed it, and clunked it upside Bette's temple, killing her instantly as she dropped to the floor. Frightened by what she's done, Josette fled the bedroom, but not without taking Bette's book of spells with her that was lying in the open on the table. After she left, Georges DuBois appeared, looking indifferently at Bette's dead body. He used his power to move her to her bed, and covered her, to make it look as if she was asleep. Why should her death disturb his former beloved's wedding night? In spite of himself, he rather approved of Barnabas for her. She deserved to be the next mistress of such a vast estate as Collinwood, not be a dependent with some architect husband. However, he knew that since Josette took that spell book, she would eventually try to cast her own spells on her own sister. Yet, what Josette didn't know was that Georges had it planned for her to find the book there, so that she may try in her arrogance to cast spells that _he_ will only allow her to perform.

"Well, that was a lovely wedding despite this blasted snow storm!" commented Andre, brushing snow flakes off his cloak and hat.

Because of the snow storm, Barnabas and Angelique could not travel to Boston, and had to spend their first night together in the Old House with Natalie and Andre. Barnabas had already dismissed Ben and Stella from the main house before it started snowing heavily. By the time the guests had left Collinwood, the snow was being blown in all directions, having the coachman to drive them carefully back to the Old House. They were relieved to enter the house with a blazing fireplace as Ben greeted them in the parlor.

"Sir? You're not goin' t' Boston?" asked Ben, surprised that his master and new mistress were still in Collinwood.

"No, Ben. The weather was getting too bad for visibility. Our trip to Boston will have to be postponed until further notice," explained Barnabas. "Have Stella to prepare hot water for our tea."

"And for my bath," interjected Natalie, shaking the snow from her hat.

"And have Stella to bring water for the countess' bath," ordered Barnabas. "Would you care for a bath as well, my darling?"

Angelique answered, "That'll be fine, Barnabas."

"Monsieur DuPres?"

"No, _merci_," he answered, warming by the fireplace.

"Very well, Water for the countess' and Miss Angelique's baths. And tea for all of us."

"Ye' sir," said Ben, leaving the parlor.

Barnabas helped Angelique out of her cape. "I am sorry, my dear, that we weren't able to go to Boston. You would have loved it there."

"That's alright, Barnabas. Nature sometimes overrules our plans like rain on a picnic," she said, smiling.

After he had sufficiently warmed his hands, Andre approached his daughter, taking her by her hands. "Angelique, _ma cherie_, you have done well by an old, foolish Frenchman. You helped our family to reclaim our dignity, and for that I will always be grateful."

"You can show your gratitude, Papa, by honoring my term concerning my inheritance," she said, coolly.

Taken aback by her attitude, he replied, "By…by all means I will. I'll admit that I was surprised that you could be this harsh upon Josette, despite everything. I mean, she doesn't deserve our forgiveness, but I was glad that you agreed to her share being ten percent."

"She should be grateful for that, allowance, Papa. However, if you didn't fear my refusal to marry Barnabas over this matter, you have given her more, or kept it at fifty percent."

"Most likely, but you're as shrewd as a businessman, as I taught you."

Angelique nodded in agreement. "I_ am_ my father's daughter."

"_Touché_." He kissed her hand for the first time ever. "Come, Natalie. We mustn't impose upon the newlyweds. We will retire to our rooms this evening and hopefully be able to leave for Martinique by tomorrow or so, if the weather settles. Thank you for your hospitality, Barnabas."

"You are welcome, sir," acknowledged Barnabas.

"Andre, Barnabas, Andre. We are now family. Good night, children."

"Goodnight," said Barnabas and Angelique in unison.

As Natalie followed her brother up the steps, she said, "_Bonne nuit_, my darlings, and Angelique, remember our discussion from last night and earlier?"

"Of course, Aunt Natalie. _Bonne nuit_," replied Angelique, embarrassed at the reference to the 'what-do-a-man-and-a-woman-do-on-their-wedding-nig ht' conversations that she received a dozen times since her first engagement. Angelique could recite everything that Natalie had told her, but to actually experience it without hindrance this time made her a little anxious again.

After Natalie disappeared up the stairs, Barnabas and Angelique were alone as man and wife. Angelique stood in front of Barnabas, her arms folded from the chill, as Barnabas gazed lustfully at what was now 'rightfully' his.

"Angelique?" he said, his dark eyes roaming every inch of her body.

"Yes, Barnabas?" she answered, her chest heaving in nervous anticipation, pleasing Barnabas.

"I must see Ben to give him instructions for tomorrow. Would you like to wait for me here until Stella prepared your bath, or go to your room now?"

"I would rather go to my room now, if you don't mind."

"I don't mind at all. Until later, my love."

He kissed her hand, but unlike her father, the way he kissed it suggested exactly what was going to happen after the bath. Angelique made her way to her bedroom, in anticipation.

It has been two hours since Angelique had returned to her home with her new husband. After her bath, Stella brought her chamomile tea, requested by Barnabas, and drank it by the fire, wearing a green nightgown with a matching dressing gown and slippers, and her long, blond hair brushed over her shoulder. While she waited for Barnabas, she remembered Natalie's advice in sleeping with a man:_ Don't dwell on the idea too much, child, just let him do all the work, and you'll come to enjoy it_! Angelique hoped so, especially when Natalie had told her that 'it' will hurt the first time, but not after. Then, she remembered Josette implying that Barnabas was… demanding in bed. Angelique crossed her legs at that thought. Would he be gentle with her or 'demanding?'

Then she heard footsteps, and the doorknob turning. She stood with her cup and saucer, and placed them on the table. When Barnabas entered in his nightclothes, she was standing by the table, her hands folded in front of her. Barnabas exhaled in excitement.

"You are a vision of beauty, Angelique, my dear," he complimented, approaching her after locking the door.

"_Mer_, uh, thank you…dear," she said, nervous.

Barnabas took her hands, and kissed her knuckles. "There's nothing to be nervous about. I assure you that you will find our lovemaking…interesting."

Angelique's heart rate increased. "Aunt Natalie had…told me of what to expect. Numerous of times with each engagement. I suppose that," she turned from him, "that I am nervous about _not_ liking it."

"You shouldn't worry about that. Being your first time and all, _it_ will be a little…discomforting in the beginning, but it will become pleasurable afterwards."

"Would you be disappointed if I didn't like _it_?"

Puzzled, Barnabas asked, "Is there some reservation about us making love that is bothering you?"

Although Angelique turned to him, she could hardly look him in the eye. "Josette said that you are a very… demanding lover, that I was expected to just lie down and take what's to come."

Aghast, Barnabas replied, "Angelique! If you're thinking that I would take you by force, you are wrong. Josette said that to disturb you, and obviously it had. If you don't want to go to bed with me tonight, then you don't have to. Goodnight."

He turned to leave, but Angelique grabbed his arm.

"Barnabas, wait! Please stay. I wish to do my duty and go to bed with you tonight."

Barnabas caressed her hair, relieved, getting a whiff of the lavender. "Don't think of it as a duty, Angelique, but an enjoyment. I know that you're not in love with me, but I can give you sensations that you will come to love."

Curious and excited, she asked, "You-you will?"

Barnabas nodded, then enveloped her in his arms, assaulting her lips, throat, and shoulders with fiery, powerful kisses, wrenching the dressing gown from her body. He tossed it over to a chair, and resumed back to sucking and nibbling on her flesh. Angelique hungrily desired him, wrapping her arms around his neck as he picked her up and brought her to bed. With one arm, he threw over the covers and laid Angelique down on the bed sheet. As he removed his robe, she noted something different about him. He looked the same, except…his male anatomy was _tented_. Angelique gasped, shocked. Barnabas only laughed.

"_That's_ what you do to me whenever I see you. I had control over it until now."

Angelique blushed, never having received such an odd compliment from any man, let alone her previous fiancés. Angelique laid back on the pillow, her arms opened for him to have her. He obliged his prized possession by mounting her, nudging her legs open with his knee, and then spreading them wide enough to accommodate his hips. Through the translucent gown, her nipples had hardened and he began rubbing them with his thumbs. Angelique's chest heaved as she enjoyed the sensation he created. Her eyes shot opened when she felt her lower torso exposed. Barnabas pulled up her gown to her stomach, and while holding one of her legs up, he inserts one of his long, thick fingers inside, stimulating her sex. Angelique moaned wantonly from the pleasure bestowed on her, writhing as Barnabas continued his ministration. Afterward, he pulled it out, sucked on his finger, and traced it across her lips.

He leaned into her ear and whispered, _I knew you weren't a prude._

He sat back on his heels. "Raise your arms, my sweet."

Angelique sat up and did as she was told. Barnabas lift the gown from her slowly, admiring her naked body, and threw it on the floor. She felt self-conscious about her nudity, but kept her arms to the side as she lay back down. Next, he took off his night shirt, and threw it next to her gown. Angelique drank in his finely-toned, muscled body, and gasped again at actually seeing his erected manhood, wondering if it would hurt throughout. Glad that his wife was enamored with his body, Barnabas hovered over her, kissing her forehead and cheeks, and then her lips, neck, and shoulders, next encircling his lips around her nipples again, and finally reached his destination where he began orally pleasuring her. Angelique was surprised on how his tongue could feel so good on another part of her body! She slid her hands in his hair, twisting and pulling at it as he held her hip in place. He suddenly stopped, causing Angelique to beg for him to continue.

"Not now, my dear. We have to move on to the main act."

The moment has finally arrived when he positioned himself at her entrance, teasing her entrance with his member, as Angelique moaned for him to take her.

"There will be pain, my dear," he said huskily, "but _only_ for a moment."

With his strong arms braced on both sides of her, Barnabas plunged himself into her, tearing through the barrier that was once marked her chastity. Angelique shrieked at the raw pain she felt, digging her nails into his back as a response, tears streaming down her face.

He licked the watery trail and whispered, _Only for a moment._

He paused for a few moments to let her adjust to his size and girth. Then he pulled back, and thrust again. Finally, he settled on a slow rhythm that would be comfortable for her. Angelique's mind wandered from the pain to the pleasure that she was starting to experience.

_I guess it doesn't last that long,_ she thought.

She focused her half-blinking gaze upon the snow that was being blown in all directions outside her windows. Her body was hot with desire and her nerves were frayed with the sensations of being kissed, nibbled, suckled, and plunged. Enthralled with passion, she clawed at his back, leaving trails of scratches, and wrapped her legs tight around him as he increased his thrusting, and pumped deeper into her body. Finally, they came together, and Barnabas collapsed on top of his wife, both of them panting and sweating from exhaustion. They didn't say anything for the next few minutes of their afterglow. Without warning, he pulled out of her and laid next to Angelique, pulling the covers over them. Angelique was still in her strange, delicious trance, replaying her first act of lovemaking in her mind.

Barnabas propped himself on his elbow, turned to his side towards her. "Angelique?"

She turned to him. "Hmm?"

"Are you alright? Did you...like _it_?"

Angelique smiled wickedly, wiping the sheen of sweat from his forehead. "I thought you knew."

He smiled, relieved that he wouldn't be banned from her bed.

"However," she said, frowning, "I am a little sore."

"Did I hurt you?" he asked, concerned.

"No more than what was already mentioned," she answered, shaking her head. "Aunt Natalie told me that it was expected."

"What else did Aunt Natalie tell you?" he teasingly inquired, playing with her hair.

"Coincidently, she told me about what you _did_ before you entered me...with your tongue. She said that something like that could be done by both men and women. I just didn't expect it from you."

She started blushing from the memory of it.

"As I said before, my dear, you would find our joining interesting."

"And it was. Now, what do we do?"

"Well, usually I like to engage in another round of love-making, but thanks to you, I am very exhausted and need to sleep."

"_I exhausted you_?" Her eyes widened at the apparent power she had over his stamina. She was secretly pleased with that power.

Barnabas laughed and planted a light kiss on her lips. "Good night, darling. We'll continue tomorrow night."

"Good night, darling," she said, sleepily.

They both blew out their candles at their bedside, and Barnabas spooned against Angelique's back, wrapping his arm around her waist. The snow had slowed, the winds were silent, and the hearth still glowed as Mr. and Mrs. Collins settled into an overnight slumber.

The sun rose at thirty minutes after seven o'clock the next morning. Angelique squinted at the ray of light that woke her from the window.

"Perhaps some of that snow will melt," she grumbled, turning over to a sleeping Barnabas, who was quite attractive in his slumber. Yet, for the first time, she noticed a scar on his right, lower jaw. She traced it lazily with her finger, wondering how he got it.

As if reading her mind, he startled her with an answer. "It was a shipping accident."

Angelique propped herself on her elbow. "Are you awake, Barnabas?"

"Mmm-hmm," he said, eyes still closed.

"Are you truly happy with me?" she asked, retracing the scar.

His eyes shot open, a smile on his face. "Why wouldn't I be happy with a wife as insatiable as you?"

"Barnabas," she whined, lightly tapping his shoulder. "I was hoping to feel more confident from last night, but I still feel a little inadequate about love-making."

"Don't worry, darling. The more we make love, the more adequate you'll feel." His eyebrows rose. "Did _you_ truly enjoy last night?"

"Immensely," she said, giggling.

A seductive smile formed on his lips. "Good, because I want you to please me orally as I pleased you last night."

"Oh?" she said, her lips forming into the perfect 'o,' fueling his morning lust.

"Yes, start kissing me on my lips, and work your way down to the…designated area."

Angelique felt flushed, but climbed on top of him, doing as he instructed. Yet, when she almost reached her 'destination,' they were startled by Ben Stokes' banging at the door.

"Mr. Barnabas! Mr. Barnabas! There's trouble in th' house! Mr. Barnabas!"

"Damn you, Ben!" muttered Barnabas. As soon as Angelique climbed off of him, Barnabas got out of bed, got dressed in his nightshirt and robe, and opened the door far enough to conceal his dressing wife.

"What's the meaning of this, Ben? What trouble?" demanded Barnabas.

"The countess' secretary, sir. She's dead!"

****Thank you for reading and commenting, everyone!


	12. Chapter 12 (July 1796)

***Sorry about missing last week, but I'm back with two chapters for this week! Enjoy, everyone J

_July 1796_

When it was discovered that Bette Roulette was dead, there was a brief investigation (on Joshua's insistence), in which it was determined that perhaps Bette was murdered by a dejected or intimidating suitor who confronted and bludgeoned her to death while everyone was at Barnabas' and Angelique's wedding reception. The constable had determined that the woman was not sexually assaulted, nor were any of her things taken. He questioned the servants, whom Barnabas vouched for, and the Collins and DuPres families. No one could give any answer to Bette's circumstances, except Natalie, who revealed that Bette was fearful, anxious, and desiring to leave her employ over whatever was disturbing her. Josette was surprised that the constable did not find any of Bette's tools of sorcery in her room. The only items that were found in her room were clothes, shoes, some letters, and a few French novels. Josette pondered over what happened to them. She hoped that when the constable found them, she would had been able to accuse Bette of witchcraft, explaining how Bette, jealous of her, had used her sorcery to make she and Jeremiah marry, thus winning back Barnabas, and hopefully having Angelique to give him up, due to those circumstances. Yet, it did not turn out that way for Josette.

For all of Bette's warning about Georges coming for his revenge against her, Josette ignored it. However, she could not shake the feeling that she was somehow being _watched_ by _someone_. Even to the point of following her around the house and on the grounds of Collinwood. Josette couldn't explain it, but decided to concentrate on finding a way to eliminate Angelique and Jeremiah from her and Barnabas' lives. And she had to do it soon because Angelique was now pregnant with Barnabas' child. She resolved to be rid of both mother and child since she scoffed at the idea of being a stepmother to _any_ of Angelique's children. Jeremiah had alluded to the idea of Josette having children with him, but she would remind him that her purpose for having a separate bedroom was to prevent something like _that_ from happening. Afterwards, she will plan a way to be free of Jeremiah once and for all after regaining Barnabas' trust and love back.

"Ah! More packages from your shopping trip to the village, my dear?" inquired Jeremiah, leaning by the stair post as Josette entered the house.

Josette ignored him, telling one of the maids to take her packages to her room, and handed her bonnet to another maid. She kept her shawl, and walked past Jeremiah into the drawing room to pour herself some brandy.

He followed her inside, mocking her. "Brandy in the middle of the afternoon, my love? Oh, yes, that will make Barnabas's and Angelique's child disappear."

"Leave me alone, Jeremiah," she said, letting the drink slide down her throat.

"You wouldn't think about their small blessing so much if you would consider the joys of having children of your own. Also, there is so much entertainment in trying."

Jeremiah hugged her from behind, but she tore away from him, splashing brown liquid on the floor.

"I told you to leave me alone!" she yelled.

Jeremiah, impatient, replied, "Perhaps if you would take my advice, you would not be on your way into becoming the next Naomi Collins."

Josette smirked at him. "And I thought that you _loved_ your sister-in-law."

"I do love Naomi, but my brother drove her to drink, not bitterness and jealousy. You'll have to get use to the idea, Josette, of Angelique having Barnabas' children. That is what a husband and his wife _do_!"

"LEAVE ME ALONE!"

"Fine," relented Jeremiah, throwing his hands up. "If you want to wallow in your own self-pity and jealousy, do it without me to watch you."

Jeremiah left the house in a huff to cool his temper. Josette poured another glass of brandy and smiled.

"Oh, Jeremiah," she mused, "if only you knew how short our marriage will be in the days to come…"

At the Old House, for most of the day, Angelique was laid in bed with a cold compress to her head, holding down the little food that she ate. Her nausea had left her confined to her bedroom all morning. Despite her condition, she was pleased about having a child of her own. She was also glad that Barnabas and the Collins family, including Jeremiah, were excited about the baby's birth. Yet, she knew that Josette was the only one who was not happy about it. When she and Barnabas had made their announcement, Josette's face was ashen, and she refused to congratulate the couple on their news. In addition, Josette was still baiting Barnabas to leave Angelique for her. However, Barnabas kept refusing to fall for Josette's temptations, making Angelique more confident of Barnabas' loyalty to her. Everything he ever told her and did showed his love and devotion to her as a spouse. She determined that she could come to truly love him one day, if she hasn't already.

Feeling restless, and a little better, Angelique left her bedroom to read in the library. With a new novel in tow, she settled comfortably in an armchair by the window and began reading.

_Angelique…ma ange (my angel), Angelique…_

Angelique's body tensed when she heard what couldn't have been her deceased fiancé's voice calling to her. Dismissing it as her active imagination, she continued reading.

_Ma ange…listen to me…._

Angelique, rattled in fear, looked from her left to her right, not seeing anyone or anything. She got up to return to her room when she came face-to-face at the door, blocking her, the bluish white, broken-necked image of her late fiancé, Georges DuBois. Her skin paled, her blue eyes bulged, and she shook as she backed towards the bookcase. Georges cautiously approached her, gazing at her sideways, his hand extended towards her. Angelique sank to the floor, shaking her head in disbelief, while he crotched in front of her. Angelique squeezed her eyes shut, turning from the sight of him. Georges bowed his head in sadness, knowing that his appearance frightened her. He then sensed another presence within her, and smiled wistfully.

_You're with child, ma ange. Don't worry. I won't hurt you or your child. I would never hurt either of you. But I know one who would hurt you, and I won't let her do it. I will protect the both of you from her…_

Although Angelique refused to look at him, she noted his cryptic statements.

_Who is her?_ she wondered.

Gathering as much strength as she could, Angelique slowly turned to face him, opened her eyes, and found that he was gone. She felt overwhelmed and began crying when Ben Stokes heard her and went to her rescue, helping her off the floor.

"You alright, Miss Angelique?"

"Ben," she said, warily, "help me to my room. I don't feel well. And have Stella to bring up some ginger tea."

"Yes, ma'am," said the servant, and he helped her to walk to her bedroom, as she puzzled over who would want to hurt her or her child, if not Georges of course.

That night, Josette flipped from page to page, trying to find the perfect spell to place upon Angelique. She couldn't just outright kill her, she later thought. After all, Barnabas, who seemed to be rather much in love with her, would be an inconsolable widower if she did take Angelique's and the child's lives. Josette needed a spell that would make Barnabas repulse Angelique and the baby. A spell that would give him no option, but to either drive them away from Collinwood or to kill them himself. Then, a page caught Josette's attention. As she read line by line, she became thrilled at what her future could finally bring her after casting this particular spell. Yes, _this_ was the spell that would guarantee Barnabas' loyalty and love again. The _word_ that the spell was named was written in beautiful italics, but held repulsion, fear, ugliness, and eternal doom to those victimized by it. She caressed the _word_ and circled it with her finger, repeating the _word _on her lips. Her mind was made up. She decided that this _word_ will be the destructive tool against her most-hated sister and her offspring. The _word_ was…._VAMPIRISM_.

Back at the Old House, Barnabas ran up the stairs to the bedroom he shared with Angelique, and threw open the door, scaring Angelique, who was still thinking about her whirlwind afternoon.

"Angelique, my darling! Are you well? Ben told me that you fainted in the library," he said, sitting at her bedside.

Although it's been four hours since her encounter with Georges, Angelique was still jittery and nervous, as noticed by Barnabas. She was paler than usual and her eyes were huge with fright. He began to suspect that something more happened than what he was told by Ben.

"Angelique, why are you trembling? Did something happen this afternoon? What is the matter? Tell me!"

"If-if I-I told you, you-you would not believe me," she stuttered, quietly.

Barnabas peered into her eyes, taking the cup and saucer from her hands, and putting them on her bedside table. "What happened?"

"You won't believe me," she said, shaking her head, tearing up.

He turned her face to his and repeated, "What… happened?"

Knowing that he won't most likely believe her, Angelique took a deep breath and said, "I…I was in the library this afternoon when…a man whom I knew from long ago came to me. He…he…he…"

"What did he do to you? Did he hurt you?" demanded Barnabas, almost to the point of yelling.

"He…did…nothing. He was dead!"

Barnabas' eyes bulged in disbelief. From his travels, he came across strange people, strange customs, and even stranger occurrences of the supernatural. But here, right now, in Collinwood? No, perhaps she was mistaken because nothing like that could ever happen in Collinwood.

"Angelique, this doesn't make any sense. Are you sure that you knew this man? Was he from Martinique?"

"Of course he was from Martinique and he was dead!" she snapped.

"He couldn't have been dead if he confronted you," reasoned Barnabas, trying to make sense of this whole matter. "Since you knew him, I want to know his name and confront this _man_ for putting you in this state."

"_Ma ange_," she whispered, staring down at her hands.

"What?" answered Barnabas, confused.

"_Ma ange_," she repeated.

"My angel?" he translated.

Angelique nodded, still looking at her hands. "That's what he used to call me…before he died."

"Who are you talking about? Who is he?"

Angelique looked at Barnabas, scared. "It was Georges."

Barnabas' mouth dropped. "Georges DuBois? Angelique, he is dead!"

"I know, but he's come back, Barnabas. Today wasn't the first time I saw him, though. The first time was when Jeremiah and I were alone at the main house before your parents moved in. You remember that evening, do you?"

"Yes," he mumbled, since it was also the night that Josette griped to him about living in the Old House. He cringed at the memory.

"I saw him outside the drawing room window. I thought that it was my imagination, but after this afternoon, I'm certain that it was him. Only this time, he looked like a corpse with a broken neck."

"Suppose it was him, Angelique, what would he want from you? Do you think that he came back to haunt you because you married me?"

"I knew you wouldn't believe me," she sobbed.

Barnabas handed her his handkerchief. "I want to believe you, but this doesn't make any sense. Why would he want to haunt you? You did nothing to deserve this from him."

"He told me that he wanted to protect me and the child," she answered, drying her eyes.

"From whom?" asked Barnabas, a protective rage building inside of him.

"I don't know," she said, holding her head in frustration. "He kept saying _her_, that he would protect us from _her_."

"Who is this _her_?"

"I don't know, he didn't say! I don't know what's happening and why, but I have the feeling that something may happen to me and our child. Oh, Barnabas, I'm terrified!"

Angelique clambered into his arms, sobbing again. As Barnabas embraced his wife, he still didn't know whether or not to believe her story, but he was more concerned with the possible danger looming over his family.

"An intruder! On _my_ property?!" bellowed Joshua.

Joshua nearly spilt the brandy that he was pouring for himself when Barnabas had related to him and Jeremiah of Angelique's 'encounter' with a strange man this afternoon.

"Angelique caught the man and he escaped, pushing past her out of the house. She was frightened, but she and the child are fine," he explained mixing truth with fiction. He couldn't very well tell his father and uncle that his wife was visited by a ghost. They'll dismiss her fear as her overactive imagination.

"Be that as it may, Barnabas, but the intruder could had harmed or even killed Angelique. You should have punished Stokes for his lack of vigilance."

"It wasn't his fault, Father. He was unaware of his presence, and had his own chores to complete. He can't very well watch Angelique every minute of the day and complete his work. Also, I'm having the locks on the doors replaced since they are most likely tampered."

"As you should!" agreed Joshua.

Barnabas rolled his eyes. "Despite the locks, I have another concern, Father."

"Such as?"

"The intruder alluded to harm coming to Angelique."

"To Angelique!" exclaimed Jeremiah, standing by the fireplace. "Why? She never had a cross word with anyone in the village. Not even here!"

"I don't know, but I was thinking that perhaps I should take her to New York for the time being until this danger has passed," suggested Barnabas.

"And how long shall that be?" demanded Joshua. "I want my grandchild to be born on this estate!"

"So do I, Father, but Angelique must stay away until I have rectified this matter. She will be safe with Millicent and Daniel, and it is my only option in protecting her."

Jeremiah joined his relatives at the liquor cabinet. "Whatever it's worth, Barnabas, I support your decision. I don't know who could have such hatred towards Angelique as to want to harm her, but it's best that she and the baby are out of harm's way."

Joshua nodded, reluctantly agreed with Jeremiah. "When do you plan to leave?"

"As soon as possible," answered Barnabas. "Once I secured her in New York, I will come back and conduct my own investigation into the matter. And when I find out exactly _who_ is planning harm towards my family, I will see to it that he, or _she_, is rightfully prosecuted and thrown into the depths of a jail cell for good!"

Unbeknownst to the men, Josette was listening outside of the double doors to their conversation.

_I have to curse her tonight before it's too late. Angelique and that brat must not live!_

That night in her bedroom, Josette lit two candles at her table and opened the spell book to its designated page. When she came upon the last line, in which she would name the receiver of the curse, her brown eyes lit up with amusement, her mouth formed into a devilish grin as she imagined Barnabas, being repulsed by Angelique's new 'condition,' and equally repulsed by the child she carries, driving a stake through her heart.

"…With this curse… spoken in its ancient writings…you will walk upon this earth forever a one of the living dead… and you will feed upon the innocent and the guilty every night… from century after century. I curse you-Jeremiah Collins! How dare you burst into my room!"

Jeremiah stood at her doorway, panting. "How dare _I_? I heard you calling for help, so I came as quickly as I could!" he explained, baffled.

"You imbecile! I didn't call for help. You're hearing things!" she accused.

"I heard you, Josette, as clear as a church bell-"

Jeremiah was abruptly interrupted by loud, high-pitched squeaking. Not the kind from the floor, but something…animalistic. Josette's windows were thrown open by an invisible force, and then a hideous, black bat with glowing red eyes flew into room, and… made a bee-line for Jeremiah's throat! He screamed in agonizing pain as the bat sank his fangs into his juggler and drank from his vein. Jeremiah's screams of pain, and Josette's screams of terror, attracted Joshua, Naomi, and the servants from their rooms to attend to him. Josette, cowered in a dark corner, kept screaming as the bat hovered over Jeremiah, whose blood was streaming rapidly down his neck , and everyone else who were trying to shoo it away from them. Finally, the taunting creature gave a last horrific shrill, and flew back to wherever depths of Hell it came from. Josette, shuddering, realized what she has done.

"No…no…not Jeremiah. Angelique. It was supposed to be Angelique!" she mumbled through tears.

"Get up, you wretched fool!" ordered Joshua, standing over her. "Your husband needs help! Follow the servants and Naomi to his room while I send for a doctor!"

Joshua stormed out of her room as Josette staggered to her feet. As she was leaving, she heard a familiar voice, mocking her:

_You shouldn't have tried to curse your own flesh and blood with death…just as you did to ME! Heh heh heh heh ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha!_

Josette ran out of the room, determined to not return to it for the rest of the night. She knew exactly whose voice that was. Now, she must find a way to somehow remove her curse before she becomes the first victim of it.


	13. Chapter 13

"Poor Jeremiah. Is he going to be alright?" asked Angelique, sitting on the settee in the parlor, as her husband paced before her.

Naomi came to the Old House, and related the news to her son and daughter-in-law.

"We're hoping and praying that Jeremiah will be fine," said Naomi. "Of course, the doctor will continue to monitor his progress as we all will at the main house. However, we have to keep in mind that some animals do carry diseases that could be…fatal."

Naomi stifled a cry as Angelique comforted her. "How is Josette coping with all of this? Surely she must be in distressed over what has become of Jeremiah?"

"Oh, that horrid woman! She's been scared to even go by his bedside! She just huddles in the corner, just staring at him, muttering nonsense."

"What do you mean?" asked Barnabas, stopping in front of the two women.

Naomi shrugged. "Oh, just nonsense like it was all his fault and it wasn't hers…my goodness! If she could just stop thinking of herself for once…I don't know what to say about your sister, Angelique."

Angelique shook her head in disappointment. "Well, don't worry about her. Josette was never good at empathy. Empathy. I remember when Jeremiah had first introduced me to that word in Martinique," smiled Angelique, wistfully. "That was when we first bonded as friends."

"Don't say that as if he's going to die, Angelique," said Barnabas, agitated.

"I'm sorry, Barnabas, it just came to memory, that's all. I'm sure that he will recover. After all, he has the love and support of all of us, which outnumbers Josette's indifference to his recovery."

Naomi took Angelique's hand. "My dear, I wish there were two of you: one for my son, and one for Jeremiah, so that none of them would ever want for your love and devotion."

"Thank you, Naomi. Jeremiah will survive this crisis. I can feel it in my bones that he will," assured Angelique, smiling gently.

"Thank you, Angelique, and I'm sure that Joshua will appreciate your encouragement, but now, I must return to the house," announced Naomi, getting up.

"I will escort you home, Mother," said Barnabas, following Naomi to the doors. He turned to Angelique. "I will not be long, Angelique. Ben is here if you need him."

"I'll be fine, Barnabas," said Angelique, watching Barnabas and Naomi leave the house.

Meanwhile, at the main house, Josette crept out of Jeremiah's room, and away from the judgmental, prying eyes of servants, to her own room. Since it was daylight, Josette felt comfortable in returning to her room to search the spell book for a solution to the blunder she caused. The book was still on the table when she entered. When she attempted to open the book, to her surprise, it wouldn't open.

_That's strange, she thought. Why won't it open?_

She tried to pry the book open, even using a letter opener, but she couldn't prevail upon it. Out of frustration, she pounded on the book and pushed it to the floor. Suddenly, the spell book burst into flames and disintegrated before her very eyes. Then, she heard _him_ laughing again.

_No, my little vixen. You will not correct you error. You will suffer the consequences as befitting a loathsome, vindictive whore like yourself. And you will NOT harm Angelique or her child!_

"No, Georges!" she replied, wildly. "I will get what I want! You, nor Angelique or her brat, will stop me from having Barnabas back. Angelique and her child will die! They will die!"

Josette decided to go for a walk in order to clear her mind. As she came down the stairs, Barnabas and Naomi entered the house.

"Barnabas!" called Josette, happily.

Barnabas and Naomi regarded Josette impassively.

"Shouldn't you be sitting by your husband's bedside, like a good wife?" asked Naomi, curtly.

"I decided that I needed fresh air, Naomi," replied Josette. "You're free to get fresh air outside of this house, so why can't I whenever I want?"

"At least tell me whether or not Jeremiah's condition has changed," said Naomi, impatiently.

Josette sighed, exasperated. "Nothing has changed, Naomi."

Naomi grunted, and then sweetly addressed Barnabas. "Thank you, son, for escorting me home." She raised her hand to be kissed, and Barnabas obliged her.

"You're welcome, Mother, and do please try to rest as well. And keep us informed of Jeremiah's health."

"Of course, Barnabas," promised Naomi, retreating upstairs. Josette stopped Barnabas as he was leaving.

"Barnabas, will you walk with me for a while?" she asked.

"I'm afraid I can't, Josette. I must return to Angelique. She still feels poorly," he said, anxious to return to Angelique's side.

"Surely you can spare me ten minutes of your time? I have been surrounded by people who hate me, and I need a friend to talk to."

Josette placed a hand on his shoulder. He looked back at her, and sighed.

"Only ten minutes, Josette. I will not be able to walk with you any longer than that."

Josette smiled. "_Merci beaucoup_."

He opened the door for her, and closed it after they exited.

As they walked, they made small conversation about the weather and Jeremiah's condition.

"I hope that Jeremiah will recover soon. Angelique has been praying for his speedy recovery," said Barnabas.

"That's nice," said Josette, rolling her eyes at the mere mention of her sister's name. She linked her arm into his, and he took it to be civil.

"You care very much about Jeremiah, do you?" she asked, looking up at him.

He answered, "Of course I do, Josette. He is my uncle, and he's like a brother to me."

"I see," she said, looking straight ahead at the path. "Just imagine if Jeremiah and I did not run away together, everyone would have been married to whom they were promised in the beginning, no?"

"Josette, I should be getting back to the house," murmured Barnabas, avoiding the subject.

Josette tugged on his arm. "So soon, _cher_?"

"Josette, I know that it is hard for you to deal with Jeremiah's condition and my parents, however, you must remember to whom we are married. When been through this hundreds of times, and you must stay true to your husband."

Josette pouted. "I suppose."

"Anyway, it would please me if you could be happy for me and Angelique, bringing a new Collins into the family."

Annoyed and abruptly, Josette said, "Good day, Barnabas."

Josette walked back to the house in a huff while Barnabas made his way home, relieved to return back to his cherished wife.

A week later, Jeremiah had passed away from a fever caused by the bat's infectious bite. Although Josette was wearing black, she was not showing the proper behavior as would befit a widow. At his funeral, Josette kept seeking solace from Barnabas, causing scandalous whispers and various glowers to radiate from Collinsport society and members of the Collins family, especially Angelique. Barnabas tried to remain neutral to Josette's emotions while also trying to show sympathy to her 'grief.' After the funeral, Joshua had Jeremiah to be buried in the mausoleum, and the family returned to the main house for dinner with the other mourners.

Josette retired to her room, to everyone's relief, and made plans to seduce Barnabas from her sister. Although Barnabas did not show any outward affection towards her as a lover, she still believed that he loved her, and was only obligated to Angelique because of their child. Now that Jeremiah was out of the way, she could finally have Barnabas back. However, she still had to find a way to sever his bond from Angelique.

That night, in the mausoleum, Georges DuBois appeared before Jeremiah's coffin, with chains in his hands. Using his powers, the chains wrapped themselves around the coffin, securing it firmly. Suddenly, Georges became aware of the person inside struggling to lift the lid. When he failed to free himself, Jeremiah began banging on the lid, shouting and pleading for freedom. Although Georges was a ghost, he found himself flinching from the coffin. However, he had to calm Jeremiah.

"Monsieur Collins!" called Georges, edging near the wooden box. "Can you hear me?"

It took a moment before Jeremiah answered. "Yes. Who…who are you? Can you free me? I'm buried alive!"

"I understand your predicament, monsieur; however, although I can free you, I can't let you out now."

"Why not?!" screamed Jeremiah, terrified.

"Monsieur, I can't explain everything now, but in your current condition, it would not be wise to release you, especially to the people of your village."

"Why? What's happened to me?"

"I'm sorry to say this, but you are not alive as you think you are. You are in fact…dead. Due to your wife's planning."

"My wife!" Jeremiah beat on the coffin ferociously, trying to get out. Luckily, the chains were holding in place.

Georges instinctively put out his hands, as if actually calming Jeremiah. "Monsieur, please! Try to control yourself! I know that this upsetting, believe me, but trust me, your nephew and I will resolve all of this, especially since it would have been Angelique in your place."

Jeremiah settled down, horrified that Angelique would have been in her own coffin as the 'creature' he is now. And what of the baby? No, it was better that he was in this situation instead.

"Alright, sir. Save Angelique and her child from that wicked cow," he said, calming himself. "But who are you?"

"Never mind for now, monsieur. I don't have time to explain. However, I must remove your coffin to a safer place so that no one would find you, and 'accidently' release you. For if they do, Josette's curse upon you will make you destroy the villagers and your family. Understand?"

"Yes," answered Jeremiah, through gritted teeth and fangs. "Do what you must, sir."

With that, Georges placed his hands on the coffin, and both the coffin and ghost disappeared into thin air.


	14. Chapter 14

In the middle of the night at the Old House, everything was peaceful with the exception of the crickets and Barnabas Collins' thoughts. As Angelique sleepily rested in his arms, his mind was filled with grief over his uncle's death, annoyance at his widowed aunt's shameless efforts in seducing him, and the imminent threat that looms over his wife and unborn child. Yet, something told him that Josette was somehow connected to Jeremiah's untimely 'death' and his family's danger. He argued with his intuition that it was impossible for Josette to be so…diabolical. Yet, it was no secret that she despised Jeremiah and Angelique equally, and would brazenly flirt with him in front of the family, including her own sister. Now that Jeremiah was dead, he knew that Josette would stop at nothing to reclaim Barnabas for herself. And if she was truly desperate and determined enough to continue in her role as a hussy, then perhaps it would be best for everyone if Josette was convinced to leave Collinwood and to start over with a new life. Surely with enough money, she could find another man to shower her affections upon. But at the same time, she was his uncle's widow. Could he really suggest a thing to her? He would be viewed as a cad if he had his father to evict a member of his family from Collinwood, hussy or not.

Yet, his wife and child were in danger. He had to protect them at all costs. He doesn't think that Angelique would object if Josette left Collinwood for good. It would give her a peace of mind and increase her confidence that Barnabas would abandon their impending family for her sister. But still, could he really do it?

Suddenly, a man's voice answered his thoughts. "Of course you can, monsieur, but you can _do_ better than that, can you?"

Barnabas' hair stood on ends as he saw a what appeared to be a broken-necked man, in what looks to be a wedding suit, standing at the foot of his bed, in _his_ bedroom, in the darkness.

"Who the devil are you?!" bellowed Barnabas, reaching for his pistol at the night stand. Angelique, unaware of what was happening, stirred in her sleep.

"Perhaps we should retreat to your parlor, monsieur, so as to not awake Angelique. I don't think the poor thing could handle seeing me again."

Before Barnabas could retort, the man disappeared before his very eyes, confirming that he was indignant towards a _ghost_. Frightened, awed, yet curious, he was determined to see what this spirit wanted with his family, and what he meant by him "doing better" against Josette. Without disturbing Angelique's slumber, Barnabas got out of bed and quickly dressed, resolute in interrogating this intrusive "visitor", whom he now knows was the one who terrified his Angelique to the core. Or to perhaps confirm that he needed sleep to clear his over-imaginative mind.

Once Barnabas got downstairs, he surprisingly found the candelabras and fireplace glowing with yellow-orange flames, and the man, whom he vaguely recognized, was sitting in one of the armchairs by the fire, as if he was an invited guest, with his head straightened on his shoulders this time.

"_Bonsoir_ (Good evening), Monsieur Collins," he said, pleasantly. "Perhaps you would care to prepare yourself a brandy? What I have to tell you tonight will be quite shocking."

Ignoring the ghost's advice, Barnabas cautiously sat across from him in the other armchair, and firmly studied the "man" before him.

"You're the one who terrorized my wife. Who are you? What do you want here?" demanded Barnabas.

The ghost's eyebrow rose. "Monsieur, don't you recognize me?" He sighed. "Maybe I shouldn't have expected you to remember me, considering that you hardly paid attention to me at Monsieur DuPres' dinner table whenever I had visited my fiancée. You paid more attention to Josette, but cast longing glances at _ma ange_, which was highly disrespectful of you, considering that it was understood that we would marry someday."

_Ma ange_…_yes, that phrase that Angelique used,_ thought Barnabas. Then, peering closely at the unwelcomed visitor, Barnabas, with a gasp, finally realized that Angelique _was_ not imaging who had "visited" her.

He pointed at the ghost, and declared, "You are Georges DuBois!"

Georges laughed, nodding. "Very good, monsieur."

"Angelique wasn't having a delusion. You actually came to her! Forgive me, Monsieur DuBois, but you would have had a more pleasant visit if your appearance was as it is now."

"_Oui_, but at the time, my concern was warning her of Josette's plans rather than my appearance. Perhaps I should have put more thought into that," he said, wistfully. "However, I never meant to frighten her on purpose, please believe that."

Barnabas debated in his mind on whether or not he should relate Georges' regret to his wife when he confirms her "visitation," but stored it into his mind for later. "You were saying about warning her of Josette's plans?"

Georges nodded. "_Oui_, Barnabas—may I call you Barnabas, monsieur? And you may call me Georges?"

"Very well…Georges. Please continue."

"Barnabas, you and I both know that you suspect Josette of diabolical intentions. You had debated with yourself on the matter, and I am here to say that you should trust your instincts. I want to help you protect _ma ange_ and her child from that spiteful bitch."

Barnabas was becoming annoyed with this apparition referring to _his_ wife by that pet name, but he refocused on the matter at hand. "Are you saying that Josette wants to _kill_ her own sister? And her niece or nephew? That's preposterous, Georges! I know I had thoughts of Josette considering those options to have me, but she really wouldn't be treacherous enough to kill Angelique or the child."

"She was treacherous enough to kill _ME_, Barnabas!"

Barnabas narrowed his eyes at him. "You died in a carriage accident, Georges."

Georges replied, "It wasn't _just_ a carriage accident, monsieur. It was instigated by sorcery. Black magic! Witch craft, Barnabas!"

"Are you saying that Josette is a witch? I would have known if she was practicing witchcraft."

"Would you, Barnabas? I was intimate with her before you came along, and I wasn't aware of her practicing the dark arts." He pulled out a cigar from his coat, to Barnabas' amusement. "Cigar?"

Barnabas put up his hand. "No, thank you."

Georges put the cigar near the flames from the hearth, and a small flame jumped from its source, lighting the cigar. Georges drew back on it, exhaled smoke, and continued. "Anyway, after I died, I became aware that she used a witch to end my life on _my_ wedding day. Imagine the cold-heartedness of a person to murder someone on their wedding day!" He took another puff. "You happened to know her accomplice, by the way. The late Bette Roulette?"

Barnabas' eyes widened. "The countess' secretary? She would have been the last one I have expected to be a witch!"

"Well, the poor girl was haplessly discovered by Josette, and Josette blackmailed her into using her powers to kill me by sending some apparition to startle my horses and my driver, and thus, killing me. Of course, the driver died as well and my horses had to be put out of their misery. Broken legs, you know?"

"It seems that Josette got what she wanted, making sure that Angelique didn't have you if she couldn't obtain you through a sordid liaison. You are aware that Angelique is aware of your affair with Josette," asked Barnabas, a shadow of a gloat on his face.

"Of course, I am!" he exclaimed, annoyed that Barnabas took pleasure in Angelique's knowledge of his folly. "I naturally never wanted her to find out, but Josette wanted too much, and would have never been satisfied if she didn't continue to be the bane of Angelique's existence. This was why I had to interfere for the sake of _ma ange_._"_

"Will you stop referring to my wife as your angel?" said Barnabas, indignantly. "She's mine now, Georges, and I will thank you to keep that in mind!"

Georges locked gazes with Barnabas, fire in his own eyes. "Monsieur, if it wasn't for me, you would not have had _MA ANGE_ to begin with. The only reason you have her _is_ because of me."

Haughtily, Barnabas glared at him. "What are you talking about? Because of Jeremiah and Josette's lack of self-control, I married Angelique at the end, _without_ your assistance."

The next thing that Barnabas knew, his chandelier fell from the ceiling. Georges looked at him, challenging the living man.

"You fool! Did you think that you would have had her if I didn't intervene? If she would have married your uncle, you would have spent your waking moments trying to seduce her, naturally failing in your attempts to make her your mistress, of course."

Barnabas looked down in shame, reminded of his previous plan for Angelique. "You're right. I was wrong to assume that she would have succumbed to my advances. Even she told me that she wouldn't have."

Georges smirked, "Well, at least you are remorseful about your plot. Now, to be clear, I actually do approve of you marrying her because Angelique _deserved_ to be next mistress of Collinwood. However, I didn't intervene just so you could have her. I intervened because you were in danger Josette's plot to keep you in her wicked clutches."

Startled, Barnabas asked, "She was going to…_curse_ me?"

"Not with death, I assure you, but with a kind of a living death. She was intending for you to be her loving, devoted, mindless slave to her affections."

"I was intending to marry Josette, and to conceal her flaws!"

Georges waved his finger at him. "But you were also blatantly showing her, monsieur, that you wanted her sister, even without admitting it. She threatened Bette to make a love potion for you that would bind you, body and soul, to Josette forever. As a man, I couldn't allow Josette to ruin another man with sorcery, so I instead gave Bette a choice between life and death to cast a spell upon Josette and Jeremiah to fall madly in love and marry, thus bringing you and Angelique together."

"The spell didn't last long obviously," reminded Barnabas, assuming that Georges killed the new-found witch.

"It wasn't my intention for the cow to be happy, Barnabas. I wanted revenge! I apologize for your uncle being bound to her, but I couldn't see myself having any other viable choices but Jeremiah Collins. And you seemed to be happy enough with Angelique, are you?"

"Of course I'm happy with Angelique! However, I feel sorry for Jeremiah for being married to Josette during his final days on this earth."

Georges tossed his cigar into the hearth. "Barnabas, Jeremiah's death was also _not_ an accident."

Barnabas regarded Georges, fearful of what was coming. "Not Jeremiah, Georges. No, not Jeremiah, too. Besides, Bette Roulette is dead. You told me yourself that Josette isn't a witch, so how could she have done anything to him with sorcery?"

"Because the ninny stole Bette's spell book the night she killed her!"

"Josette killed Miss Roulette?"

"Surely you didn't think I did, did you? When Bette chose life, I allowed her to live as long as she would break ties with the DuPreses after your and Angelique's wedding. Josette believed that the 'musical fiancés' idea was hers! Can you believe that? Bette would have never turned on Josette without her welfare being secured. But yes, it was Josette who not only murdered me, but Bette and sadly, your uncle."

"But what would Josette have gained from murdering Jeremiah? She wouldn't have thought that she could gain me again without…

"The bitch didn't plan on Jeremiah dying first, Barnabas. She had _someone else_ in mind."

Suddenly, Barnabas came to a realization, in which Georges intuitively nodded.

"Angelique. Thus, killing the child."

"_Oui_, monsieur. And she won't stop. Of course, after the bat bit Jeremiah, I burned the book in front of her, but I don't know how extensive her knowledge in witch craft is. Who knows how long she studied that book? She might have other things planned for Angelique and the little one now."

Barnabas looked up at Georges. "You said earlier that I can do better than sending Josette away. Did you imply that it is better to…kill her?"

"If you want to save your wife and child, it's better that way. She is out of control, Barnabas, and as I said before, she might have something else up her sleeve. It's best to eliminate her now before she could do so to Angelique and your child."

"But to plot to kill an innocent child…?"

Georges grabbed the arms of the chair. "Monsieur, do you think that horrid demon gives a damn about your child?! She scoffed at the notion of raising it! She would rather that it died than it lived!"

Barnabas jumped from his seat, pacing back and forth, taking in all of this information. Yet Georges had more news for him.

"I should also tell you, monsieur, that your uncle is like me, but in another state of being 'undead', so to speak."

Barnabas turned to him. "What are you saying?"

Georges stood up to face him. "Josette didn't just use magic to kill him. She cursed him to walk the earth as one of the living dead: a vampire."

Barnabas paled in horror and disbelief. However, at this rate, he couldn't afford to disbelieve anything anymore. "A…vampire? Was that her intention for Angelique?"

"You know the answer to that. But don't fret: I have secured and hidden both body and coffin for everybody's protection. As long as he doesn't drink blood, he can be restored…with Josette's death."

Barnabas covered his mouth, rubbing his hair. "What Josette did deserves death, Georges. However, I want to avoid it for Angelique's sake and pay her to leave Collinwood."

"For Angelique's sake, you must kill Josette!" argued Georges, standing face-to-face with Barnabas.

"But that is her sister, for goodness sakes!"

"Josette is trying to kill _her_ sister!"

"She'll take the money, Georges, because I will threaten to expose her if she doesn't do so, and leave Collinwood."

"Don't be so sure, Barnabas," warned Georges. "She is a menace!"

"Let me do it my way, monsieur. She will comply."

"And if she doesn't?"

"Then I'll kill her myself," he said, resolute in his decision.

"Very well, monsieur. I'll give you a chance to not only save your family, but to also avenge my death. If you fail to do so, I will, by all means, finish what I started."

Barnabas turned towards the stairs, thinking of the sleeping beauty who is his wife. "Don't worry, Georges. I will do so for all of our sakes."

He turned to Georges, but the ghost was gone. He also found that the candelabras and the hearth were extinguished, and the chandelier was restored to its natural place, undamaged. Barnabas now had a mission to complete, and two plans. With all of the information stored in his mind, Barnabas went back upstairs to bed, but couldn't sleep, debating now if he could _really_ murder his wife's only sister, even for his family's own protection.

Someone has stolen Jeremiah's body?!"

Angelique couldn't believe what her husband was telling her. Yesterday, she lamented over Jeremiah's pallid corpse, only for it to be disturbed by some irreparable vandals. Couldn't anything go right for Jeremiah _after_ his death?

Barnabas was standing in the middle of the room, his back turned to Angelique. That morning, he rose early to visit the mausoleum to see for himself if Jeremiah's coffin was gone. As expected, it was. He wished that he could have asked Georges where he hid his uncle, but it was most likely for the best that he didn't. He decided to tell his father and wife about Jeremiah's body being stolen, but would not relate to them the details of his meeting with the late Georges DuBois, or anything concerning Josette's dalliance in witchcraft.

"It's really the most damndest and nefarious thing that anyone can do! We alerted the constable to this…travesty, and hopefully he will have leads to whoever could have done this," said Barnabas.

"Oh, darling, I'm so sorry about what happened to Jeremiah's body. But why would anyone would do such a thing?"

"For all kinds of wretched reasons, my dear Angelique."

Barnabas sighed and sat next to his beloved wife, taking and kissing her hand. "My dear, are you truly happy with me?

"Oh, Barnabas," she said, nuzzling at his scarred jaw, "of course I am truly happy with you."

He pulled away from her, taking her by her arms, gazing into her clear blue eyes. "Angelique, you must be honest with me. I need to know if you're happy with me as a husband."

"Barnabas, I told you my answer, why do you doubt my sincerity? You already know that I would tell you if I felt I wasn't happy," she said, concerned, enclosing his hands in hers.

Barnabas looked at her hands, and then back into her eyes. "Angelique, I admit that I was an opportunist when I tried to seduce you and then married you. I've wanted you since the moment I saw you in Martinique, even when Georges DuBois was courting you. However, I settled for Josette, and thought that she could make me happy. I later found that I couldn't stop thinking of you, and watching you with Jeremiah, I knew that somehow I had to have you for myself, even if it meant making you my mistress. Then, fortune smiled on me with…what occurred between Josette and Jeremiah, and I thought that finally I will have what I wanted. Now…I feel that I don't deserve you as I thought I did."

"And you never did," said Angelique, "but I _deserved_ you."

"_You…deserved…me?_" he asked, surprised.

Angelique shyly looked away for a moment before meeting his dark eyes again. "Barnabas, I have something to confess: I did not love you in the beginning, but I wanted you."

Barnabas' eyes nearly popped from their sockets. "_You did_?"

Angelique shrugged. "Well, after Georges died, of course. I was…appalled when my father told me that I would marry again although Georges was barely cold in his grave. Yet, once the idea had settled into my mind, I was disappointed and jealous that you would choose my sister over me, considering that you must have surely remembered what the both of us were like when you were our tutor."

"I thought I loved her," he answered, sincerely.

"Hmm. Of course. And when you tried to seduce me, did you really believe that I would settle for mistress instead of wife?"

"I always saw you as a wife, but I thought that perhaps a mistress may be a…stepping stone in the long run. Discovering Josette's nature, I thought that it would not be too long before someone else caught her attention. Even if that didn't happen, I would always love and honor you as if you were my wife. And if there were children, they would inherit Collinwood."

"Not before _her_ children, Barnabas!"

"Why would I give _her_ children?"

Angelique clucked her tongue at him. "Barnabas, for shame! Everyone would have expected for her to have your children."

"Expectations don't always finalize into reality, my love."

"Oh, Barnabas!"

"Despite everything, I'm glad that you are happy as my wife, and that you are giving me a child whose mother I would always cherish." He was silent for a moment before he spoke again. "I'm taking you away from this place tomorrow morning, my love. I wouldn't be able to stand it if something should befall you and our child. Too many things have happened as of late, and I feel that whoever wants to do you and our child harm will strike soon. I want you to pack as soon as possible."

A sudden feeling of dread filled Angelique's mind. "Barnabas?"

"Yes?"

"I'm glad that we're leaving tomorrow morning…because I have the strangest feeling that I may die if I don't leave here soon."

Barnabas took her in his arms. "Never, my love. Never!"

He caressed Angelique's stomach, wondering if the child would look like a Collins or a DuPres.

"I'm sure that once we're away, everything will be right again, and we would return to you," said Angelique, caressing his face. "Tell me something, how did Josette receive the news of Jeremiah's crypt being disturbed?"

"According to my mother, Josette seemed…oh, forgive me, Angelique, but she seemed relieved."

Angelique's eyes blazed in anger. "_She was_ _relieved_?"

Barnabas got up to pour himself some brandy. "My dear, why should we be surprised? All of us knew that Josette never cared for Jeremiah.

Angelique shook her head in disgust. "Even in death, she has no respect for him."

"That was obvious at the funeral," he said, sitting back down next to her. I also suspect that she would try to seduce me again."

"Will she succeed this time?" asked Angelique, teasingly.

Barnabas laughed. "Now why would I give up the most beautiful, and, mind you, insatiable woman from the Caribbean?"

A seductive leer crossed Angelique's features. "Before we are separated from our marriage bed, I think that we should go upstairs to make our last bedding together…memorable."

"Are you sure that you're up to it? You know how demanding I can _be_."

"I wouldn't had suggested it if I wasn't feeling well."

"You have to start packing," he reminded.

"Surely the insatiable Barnabas Collins could allow me thirty minutes of his time," suggested Angelique, licking her top lip.

Weakened by her seductive cue, Barnabas sat his glass on the table, and escorted his wife to their bedroom for thirty minutes of pleasure.


	15. Chapter 15

That evening, Joshua paced back and forth in the drawing room, impatiently waiting for his dreaded sister-in-law to "grace" him with her presence. Josette finally made her way downstairs, wearing a pink muslin dress with a white shawl. When Joshua saw her, his lower lip protruded in indignation.

"I see that it didn't take you long to get over my brother' death," he snapped.

"Why should we delude ourselves with pretense, monsieur? Jeremiah and I never loved each other, and I would be a hypocrite if I continued to wear black for a man whom I could hardly stomach," she said.

"At least you're honest," he tersely replied. "Please sit down."

Josette sat on the settee while Joshua stood, avoiding eye contact with her, hands folded behind his back.

"Madame, it has been no secret that your presence has been most unwelcomed here since you eloped with Jeremiah. Furthermore, your blasé behavior as a widow was offensive and intolerable. Therefore, it is in everyone's best interest that you leave Collinwood."

Josette began to laugh; Joshua began to seethe in annoyance.

"I don't see the humor in my decision, madam," he said, glaring at her.

"Oh, but I do, monsieur," replied Josette, smugly. "You see, I don't believe that any sensible person would approve of your actions, especially your peers and your family."

"You have no idea how many of my peers, and especially of _my_ family, would love to see you leave Collinsport," retorted Joshua.

"And what does Barnabas think about this? I'm sure that he would disapprove," she said with an irritating smirk on her face.

"On the contrary, madam, he agrees with me," countered Joshua, with his own little smirk.

Josette stared daggers at him. "You're lying! Barnabas would never want me to leave. Despite his mistaken marriage to that pregnant mare, he still loves me. "

Joshua laughed, "Are you serious, madam? He never loved you! He must had thought he had in the past, but he was taken in by your mask of deception. Your sweet demeanor is bitter, your innocence was as tainted as the common whore's on the street, and madam, you are very much no lady."

Josette jumped up. "You could go to hell, Joshua Collins! Barnabas would never allow you to throw me out of Collinwood. Do you know how much your reputation will suffer when everyone knows that you left your brother's widow destitute?"

"You will receive a generous sum for your departure, enough to take you to Europe, the Caribbean, New France (Canada), anywhere."

Josette shook her head. "I will speak to Barnabas of this matter. We'll see who will have the last laugh." She wrapped herself in her shawl and stormed towards the front doors. Joshua followed after her.

"If you think that my son will abandon his wife for you, then you are mad, Josette DuPres! Mark my words: you will _never_ have Barnabas, you insolent strumpet!"

Josette shook off his words and marched straight to the Old House.

Once she arrived, she banged on the door, desperately waiting for someone, preferably Barnabas, to open it. To her relief, Barnabas answered the door.

"Josette," he said, immediately when he saw her, "What are you doing here?"

"I must talk to you. Will you invite me inside?" she asked, urgently.

Sighing, Barnabas opened the door and allowed Josette entrance into his home. She sauntered into the parlor, greeted by Angelique's portrait above the mantle. She looked up at it with disgust when Barnabas startled her with his insensitive tone.

"I am really not in the mood for visitors, Josette. I have to get up early in the morning. Why are you here?"

Josette was shocked by his callous manner towards her, and the way he looked at her reminded her of when she accused him of being infatuated with Angelique. "Barnabas, why are you like this to me?"

"Why am I like what, Josette?" he said, his tone on edge.

"Why are you so…_cold_?"

Barnabas' eyes narrowed at her, and she felt her heart stop. "Why would I be cold to you, Josette? Did you do anything to _cause_ me to be cold to you? Or perhaps did you attempt to do _something_ that would cause me to behave coldly to you?"

Josette wrapped her shawl tightly around her shoulders, as if covering her imaginary nakedness. "What…what…are you…saying?"

"You tell me, considering that you shudder at my coldness, but disregard _us_ when we shudder at your cold indifference towards my uncle, your husband."

Josette' eyes widened and her mouth gaped opened. "So it is true!

"What is true, Josette?"

"You and Joshua planned to throw me out of Collinwood."

A gleam appeared in Barnabas' eyes. "I see that my father _has_ spoken to you. Yes, we would like for you to take a sizable donation for your permanent trip abroad, or if you like, anywhere outside of Collinsport."

She threw her arms around him, begging, "No, Barnabas, please! You can't mean that! You love me! You said it yourself long ago. You would have married me if Bette didn't force me to marry Jeremiah. She was a witch, _ma amour_! She cast a spell upon me and Jeremiah to fall in love and marry. If it wasn't for her, you and I would be together."

She placed her hands on his face, looking into his eyes. "We would've been happy! And we _can_ be happy if you would just realize that and leave Angelique for me. I love you!"

Barnabas uncoiled her snake-like arms. "What do _you_ know about love, Josette? Did you claim to love Georges DuBois when you whored yourself to him, expecting a marriage? Did you love him before you blackmailed Bette Roulette to use her powers to murder your sister's first fiancé?"

Josette paled as she was confronted with the greatest secret she kept. "Why…why would you think that? I never involved myself with sorcery. It was all Bette's doing! Because I discovered what she was!"

"Then you should have told the countess and your father! You didn't because you knew that Bette, if pressured, would expose you! And what would Bette gain from this? Nothing! Bette may have used her powers, but you are as guilty as was she, as if you used it yourself."

Josette turned from him. He knew everything! How he knew, she didn't know. Could it have been Georges' ghost? He has menaced her in her solitude with threats and taunts. If he had visited Barnabas and reviewed her secret, she must make him believe him believe her side of the story.

"You don't understand, Barnabas. _I_ wanted him. I deserved to be his wife more than Angelique. I would have known how to act as the wife of a jeweler. I could have helped him attract customers with _my_ beauty and my appearance with his jewels. Angelique could never accomplish that!"

Barnabas' rage boiled. "So you admit it?"

"Yes! But it was only once that I made Bette use her abilities."

Barnabas accused, "And you and Jeremiah? Admit it that it was partly your doing for that happening."

"_Partly mine_? It was all Bette's because I would not further cooperate with her!"

"Enough, Josette! Enough! You tried to put a love spell on me when you were consumed with jealousy for Angelique. However, it backfired on you, and you killed Bette Roulette for it. You murdered her!"

"Yes!" she admitted, deciding to just reveal everything. "She was supposed to make you fall in love with me! But instead she betrayed me. But it was your fault, too."

"_Mine?_" he said, incredulously.

"Yes, yours," affirmed Josette. "If you haven't flaunted you infatuation for my sister in front of me, I wouldn't have to have gone to Bette, and I would not have ended up marrying Jeremiah. And she would not have had to die!"

Barnabas' face reddened and his eyes bulged. He would throw her out of his house at that moment, even march to the main house and pack her belongings himself, but he had to confront her on one last act.

"And Jeremiah? Angelique and my unborn child? You used Bette's spell book to turn Jeremiah into a vile creature of the night. But if it weren't for _someone else's_ intervention, my child would have died, and wife would have been a vampire because of you."

Josette was too tired to deny her faults, so she answered, "It was by mistake that Jeremiah was turned."

Barnabas stood stock-still, staring at this…"vile creature" that stood before him, gloating over her actions when she tried to appear innocent in the beginning. He saw no remorse in her eyes over her actions and intentions. He felt enraged enough to break her neck with his bare hands. "You vile, murderous, bitch!"

"You're right, Barnabas, I am. I would have done _anything_ to have what I wanted," said Josette, condescending. "But tell me: how did you come to know all of this?"

"A certain Creole from Martinique told me everything last night."

"Georges Dubois," she conceded, smiling bitterly.

"Yes, Josette. And he will not rest until you meet his soul in Hell. And perhaps it may be soon enough if you don't leave Collinsport immediately!"

Josette threw up her hands, seemingly in defeat. "Alright, Barnabas, I will leave Collinwood. But not without you. You and I belong together, _mon cher_. Can you really say to my face that you love Angelique when it's really _me_ who you loved? Yes, I made mistakes that separated us, but now that you know, and you seem willing to keep _all_ of my secrets, I know also that you will leave Collinsport with me."

She reached up to caress his cheek, but Barnabas grabbed her by her arms, pulling her to him. Josette felt warmed by the passion that still burned for him. He drew her to his face and said, "Let me be very clear, Josette. When I was tutoring you and Angelique, and Georges DuBois was courting her, I _wanted_ to have her then. When she was engaged to Jeremiah, I _wanted_ her still. If we would have married, I would keep to a separate bedroom as my father still keep to his, and you would have never had the pleasure of having my children. That right would have belonged solely to your sister. I would have kept pursuing Angelique until she surrendered to me, and when she would have done so, I would have made sure that she bore my first child. And if her first child was Jeremiah's I would make sure that the second one was mine, and so on. I love Angelique, and my heart would have always belonged to her. You would have been a spent ornament, sitting in this house, sewing baby clothing for your nieces, nephews, and possibly _your_ stepchildren."

Then he shoved her to the mantle, where Josette caught herself, shock and simmering with fury.

Her brass-colored eyes protruded in rage, her lips tightened in humiliation, and her fists clenched in vengeance. How dare he say such things to her face! He not only still rejected her, but admitted that Angelique would have been his first preference for spouse and mother for _his_ children. Just like Georges had preferred Angelique over her.

Josette straightened herself, and held her head high like the dignified lady she was portraying. "So, it was _her_ after all. You were in love with her, even during our engagement."

Barnabas sneered, "You knew it long before now, Josette. Now, you will be given an ultimatum: you will either leave Collinsport with a generous sum of money from my father, and your secrets will never reach outside of this estate, let alone to the constable. Or…you can be tried as a murderess and a co-conspirator in witchcraft, and be hanged or decapitated. Choose wisely!"

Josette scoffed. "Without Jeremiah or any other real proof of Bette's involvement, you have nothing, Barnabas. Does your precious Angelique know of my deeds?"

"No, and she never will. And as for me having no evidence of your crimes, Georges is my witness, and I can use the information he has given me to have you arrested for Bette's murder. Your motive? She knew about your filthy past with your sister's fiancé, and your jealous plot to kill Angelique. And when I tell my story to the constable and the judge, confirmed by your confession, you will surely be executed. In other words, my dear, it is in _your_ best interest to leave Collinwood."

"Come now, Barnabas. You want me to leave because of the…_danger_ I pose to your pathetic wife and unborn brat!"

Barnabas coolly threatened, "For your _own_ longevity, Josette."

"Are you implying that you would kill me? You can't kill me, Barnabas. You don't have the gall to kill me!"

"If I don't, then Georges DuBois _will_!"

Josette thought for a moment. "I'll think about how much the Collins family should give me for wasting my life in this dreary little town of yours, monsieur."

"Very good," he said. "You may leave my house now. Good bye."

Josette hurriedly left the house.

Storming back to the main house, Josette's thoughts raced with ideas of revenge against Barnabas and Angelique. She no longer wanted him. He rejected her just as Georges had. She was tired of being rejected by men using her body for her pleasure, and then refusing to share their wealth, power, and lives with her. And all for what? For that cow-eyed, wretched, weak, prudish, fool!

_Oh, Barnabas, mon cher,_ she mused, _if you think that I will allow you to live happily ever after like in fairy tales with your pallid bitch, then you're mistaken. If I can't have you, then neither will she, or the next one after me!_

_****Hey, everyone! We're getting close to the end. Tune in next week and thanks for reading & reviewing :)_


	16. Chapter 16

The trip to New York the next morning was delayed by a series of mysterious and unfortunate events. First, Barnabas' driver, Henry, had disappeared without a trace. Stella, Barnabas and Angelique's maid, fell ill with a fever. Ben ended up in jail in the middle of the night, on grounds of starting a brawl that he swears he did not start, let alone was there for at The Eagle. In addition, Naomi Collins had a fall down the steps, twisting her ankle, and finally, the most devastating of all, _six_ of the newly-built ships that were ready for travel at the shipyard caught on fire. Barnabas had to leave with Joshua to assess the damages, but didn't want to leave Angelique alone at Collinwood, knowing that Josette was still in residence, and didn't trust whether or not she would do something to Angelique during his absence.

Feeling he had no other choice, Barnabas told Angelique _everything_. He revealed Josette's involvement in Georges DuBois' death with Bette Roulette as her reluctant co-conspirator, the odd arrangements of marriages in their families, Bette's murder at Josette's hand, his encounter with Georges, and Jeremiah's 'death.' Angelique's heart turned cold with shock, fear, dismay, and indignation. She knew that Josette was capable of doing devious acts, but to get involve with witchcraft for vengeance and to obtain whatever she wanted? Thank goodness her father was not here to discover these awful revelations. It would had devastated and fueled his rage further against Josette.

"What are we going to do, Barnabas?" she asked, caressing her stomach. "What if she comes here and kills me and the baby?"

"Angelique, I don't know what to do either, but we must be vigilant. I will return as soon as possible, but I want you to not allow Josette in this house, no matter what happens. Use Stella's illness as an excuse. I believe that everything that has happened today has something to do with Josette."

"Does she know that we were leaving for New York this morning?"

"I didn't tell her anything. I didn't tell my parents about our trip either. I planned to have Ben tell the family as soon as we left. "Here," he said, giving her his pistol. "If she tries anything to harm you or the child, shoot her dead. I know now that she would never spare you or our child. You must protect yourself. Agree?"

She took it. "Papa showed me how to use a pistol once. Is it loaded?"

"Of course it is! Just be careful. I must go! Not only do I have to tend to the catastrophe at the shipyard, but also see about Ben's incarceration. I love you, Angelique."

"I…we hope to live to see another day, Barnabas Go, Barnabas, and Godspeed."

Barnabas caressed his wife's cheek, and immediately left. He was stung that Angelique couldn't say the words that he wanted to hear, but he knew that she was still coming to love him. He hoped that she would be able to pull the trigger on her own sister, _if_ necessary.

For two hours, Angelique couldn't relax. She paced back and forth, frustrated and frantic for her life and her child's. She couldn't clear her mind of all the things that Barnabas has revealed to her. Josette murdered Georges so that she herself couldn't have him. Josette was _more_ than willing to curse Barnabas to claim his love, whether or not it was his true feeling. She tried to orchestrate _her_ death and that of her unborn child's with a curse of the undead. Tired and stressed, she put the pistol on the table by the staircase and sat by the darkened fireplace. Eventually, she dozed off into a peaceful slumber. A half hour later, she woke up, hoping that she was on a coach ride to New York, safe from dangerous threats at Collinwood, and safe in her husband's protection. Angelique felt guilty for not being able to return her love for him. She saw his devotion and love for her, but she just couldn't get herself to say the words that would soothe his heart. And she didn't know if she would survive to do so in the next few hours.

"Good afternoon, sister _dear_."

Sitting opposite of her, was the last person with whom she wanted to be in the same room: her vile, evil, witchy sister, Josette, who appeared composed in her orange gown, black shawl, and red, velvet purse.

Angelique gasped. "What are you doing here?"

"You seem surprised to see me, sister _dear_. But I suppose that we being estranged caused your reaction. I see trunks by the staircase. Were you and _your_ husband leaving Collinwood?"

Angelique looked over at the trunks, and at the pistol that rested on the table by the stairs, wishing that she had it in her hand at that moment. "Uh, yes. We are going to visit the cousins, Millicent and Daniel Collins. They were unable to make it to our weddings due to their ship from Europe being delayed, and Barnabas thought that I should meet them."

Josette smiled, discomforting Angelique. "Oh? Were you leaving without saying goodbye to us, then?"

"Ben was going to tell everyone at the main house. Barnabas wanted to start off early on the roads."

Josette slowly nodded. "Really?" She caressed her purse lovingly, as if it was a sleeping kitten on her lap. "It's a shame that your trip was delayed by so many… unfortunate events."

Angelique nodded. "Yes, it is. Why are you here, Josette?"

Josette sat back in the chair. "I thought that perhaps we should talk."

"Talk?" asked Angelique, a tremor in her tone. "About what?"

"Oh, about us, sister _dear_. Our lives in the past and now. For example, Papa used to spoil me as a child. He would even let me have things that belonged to you," mused Josette.

"I remember," nodded Angelique, "but we were children, Josette. Things changed once we became adults."

"Obviously," agreed Josette. "Starting with those damned diamond earbobs. Papa should have let me have them."

Exasperated, Angelique replied, "Are we going to start that again? They were never yours to begin with, Josette, and Papa had rightly denied them to you. But what does it matter now? I don't have them in my possessions. I gave them to Aunt Natalie."

Josette shot forward in her seat. "You mean that you _gave_ that spinster those earbobs?! What could she do with them besides wear them in her coffin when she dies?"

"Why are you so worried about them?" Angelique asked, scrutinizing Josette.

Josette sat back in her chair. "They could have been used better in my possession."

Angelique shrugged. "It doesn't matter anymore. Now, please leave."

"Why?"

"Because I want to rest."

"Oh, of course, the _baby_ must rest as well," replied Josette, snidely, looking at Angelique's stomach with bitterness.

Angelique protectively covered herself with her white shawl. "Why do you hate my child so much? I know from living with you that you're capable of having children on your own."

Josette stared at Angelique intently. "_That's_ not what you wanted to say, _dear_ sister. Wasn't it?"

Angelique's heart began to race. Her eyes darted to the purse that Josette kept caressing. "What's in your purse, Josette? Why are you _really_ here?"

Josette looked down at her purse, nonchalantly. "My purse? Why are you concerned with the contents of my purse, Angelique? Afraid that I have a…_deadly_ weapon in it?

Angelique didn't say a word.

Josette smirked, locking her brown eyes with her sister's blue ones. "What _do_ you think is inside? And to answer your second question, I wanted to talk about our lives, remember? Especially since what happened between us goes beyond some insignificant earbobs."

"They were significant to you a moment ago, Josette."

"I was merely starting a conversation, Angelique. Let's get to the real matter, shall we?" She leaned forward towards Angelique. "Barnabas."

Angelique narrowed her eyes. "What about Barnabas?"

Josette pointed accusingly at her. "You stole him from me!"

"What?!" exclaimed Angelique, incredulously. "You came here, unwelcomed, to _my_ house, to accuse _me_ of stealing Barnabas from _you_? Josette, you, me, everyone in Collinwood, and our family knows what really happened. Or perhaps only the three of us know the _real_ truth behind what happened here."

"What are you speaking of, Angelique?" queried Josette, crooking her head to the side, wondering about Angelique's insinuation.

Angelique jumped from her chair, stormed to the table, grabbed the pistol, and pointed it at Josette. "Get out of my house, Josette. Now!"

Josette couldn't help but to laugh. "Really, Angelique? _You_ would shoot me for accusing you of taking Barnabas from me?"

Josette stood up, turned her back to Angelique, and rummaged through her purse. As soon as she found the _items_ she was looking for, she quickly turned to Angelique, hiding _them_ from her older sister's sight, smiling slyly. This unnerved Angelique, but she had to keep her wits about her for not only her sake, but for her child's.

"Barnabas told you about me, didn't he, sister _dear_," asked Josette, pacing towards Angelique.

"Stay back!" warned Angelique, aiming the pistol at Josette.

Josette continued towards her as Angelique backed towards the stairs. "I can tell from your expression and the way that you are acting that he did. What a shame that you and your brat will have to die with that knowledge!"

"Josette! I won't hesitate to kill you if I have to!"

"Angelique, you can't kill me! You don't have the gall to kill your _only_ sister. Your own flesh and blood! However…I do!"

She pulled her hands from behind her, revealing a voodoo doll, with what looks to be Angelique's hair fastened to it, and a silver needle, which was aimed at the doll's head. Angelique was horrified to see those dreadful tools of the devil in Josette's hands. Angelique had to try to convince her to change her evil plan.

"You would kill me and my child because you couldn't have Barnabas? For a man who _clearly_ was not your soul mate since he wanted me? And Georges? You destroyed him because he wanted me as well? And what about Jeremiah? Josette, Jeremiah was a mistake, yes, but it wasn't his fault that you ended up marrying him!" She stopped at the foot of the steps.

"I know, you stupid bitch!" said Josette, standing inches from Angelique. "He was just a useless bystander. _You_ were supposed to be in that coffin, waiting for your merciful, but most timely demise at your husband's hand as a vampire."

"You hate me that much?"

"Ever since we were children," admitted Josette. "Although Papa spoiled me, he would admonish me to be _more_ like _you_. To be more practical, better-behaved, more _humble_ in spirit. To be the kind of wife that _you_ were destined to be: a loving, unselfish, thoughtful, self-sacrificial lamb that would put _her_ needs after her husband's and children's. That sounded nice until the men I wanted would turn to _you_. Even Barnabas would sing your praises! Do you know what that was _like_ for _me_? To see the men I loved admire you from a distance and even in MY presence! For Georges to use me, and then to propose marriage to you when he should have done the honorable thing in marrying me. For Barnabas to threaten to expose my past to Papa if I didn't stop pointing out his feelings for you or complaining about this ugly house! I thought that I could win him back after Jeremiah's 'disappearance,' but he spurned me for you. Again! Now, I will have my revenge on the both of you. I would have just killed him, but _you_ would be here to lure another man from me, so what would be the best possible answer in our situation, Angelique _dear_? Hmmm?"

"For you to leave Collinwood, Josette," answered Angelique, calmly. For you to leave and find your happiness. You don't have to kill _me_ for it. Even if you do, Barnabas would not turn to you, knowing what you're capable of."

"Did you not hear me? I don't care about Barnabas anymore! He can go to hell for all I care! You, however, would always outshine me with men. I should have done this a long time ago. It would have saved me a lot of trouble, as a matter of fact. It wasn't the men who ruined me, it…was…you!"

Josette jammed the needle through the doll's arm. Angelique screamed in pain, dropping the pistol, sinking to the bottom of the steps. Angelique leaned into the banister, panting.

"Please, Josette. Let me live for the child's sake."

Josette dragged the point of the needle across the doll, deciding where she should stab it next. The point landed on the doll's midsection. Angelique's eyes bulged, and she shook her hand in a panic.

"No, Josette, please! Please, not my child! Just leave Collinwood," she wailed.

Josette laid her finger along her jaw, as if pondering a decision. "Hmmm, let's see, sister _dear_. The baby? You? Both at the same time? The choices are limitless! Your head? Your heart? Angelique, dear, please help me decide."

Angelique tried to get the pistol, but Josette impaled the needle through the doll's legs. Angelique was vulnerable, pain incapacitating her as she curled into a fetal position at the bottom of the stairs, holding her thighs. Josette laughed and crouched in front of her sister.

"You stupid weakling. You pathetic, cow-eyed sow. I always wondered what it would have been like to finally kill you. In case you were wondering, I took this hair on the doll from your comb in Martinique and made Bette construct this doll for me before we left." She waved the doll in Angelique's face like a child waving some new toy she gotten. "Well, it seems that I'll have to make the choice for you: THE HEART!"

"Nooooo!" screamed Angelique, as Josette drew up her arm to stab the doll in the chest.

Suddenly, a bluish-white hand grabbed Josette's wrist. Both sisters turned their faces to the broken-necked corpse of a man they both knew from long ago. Both of them were saturated with horror and fear, more so Josette, as they looked at the contorted features of Georges DuBois.

"You really wouldn't do that to an expecting mother, let alone your sister, would you, _ma petite_?" he said, smiling sadistically.

He twisted her arm behind her back, making her drop the needle and the doll in her other hand.

"GEORGES, NO! I BEG OF YOU!" pleaded Josette, tears of fear and pain running down her face.

"Your sister begged of your mercy as well, Josette. You granted her none, just as I will not grant you any. Tonight, you will die and burn in Hell!"

Josette screamed as the both of them disappeared before Angelique's eyes. And so did the needle and the doll. Miraculously, Angelique no longer felt pain in her arms or legs and got up, shaken to the core at what just happened. Suddenly, Stella in her nightgown, found her mistress at the foot of the steps.

"Miss Angelique, are you hurt? I heard you screaming," inquired the worried maid, her long red hair in a single braid over her shoulder.

Angelique turned to her, leaning against the banister. "I'm alright, Stella, but I think that re would need some arsenic. I saw two rats run by. You shouldn't be out of bed with your fever, Stella. Go back to bed."

The maid shook her head. "I'm not sick anymore, ma'am. I mean, I was, but for some reason. I'm well! I can't explain it!"

Angelique smiled. "Let's call it a miracle then. I need to lie down. Will you help me to my room?"

Stella took Angelique by the arm, smiling. "I'll make you some ginger tea and something to eat after I help you, ma'am."

"Are you sure you are well enough to do that?" asked Angelique, concerned.

"I'm fine, Miss Angelique, really I am. Come. I'll help you."

As Stella helped Angelique to her bedroom, Angelique couldn't help but to wonder what would happen to Josette. What will Georges do to her? Whatever his plan was, she hoped that it would involve Josette not returning to Collinwood ever again.

***Well, what do _you_ think will happen to Josette? Find out next week J


	17. Chapter 17

Josette woke up in complete darkness with the exception of the faint lights of the moon and stars above her. She was lying on the ground, smelling and touching the fresh dirt beneath her palms, and hearing strange, eerie sounds of the night. The black trees blew softly in the cool winds, resembling tall boogeymen, mockingly waving at her. The winds seemed to be laughing at her as well, as if they knew what was in store for her. Josette sensed a peculiar presence as she struggled to her feet. She then realized that the bare soles of her feet made contact with the earth, and her legs chilled from the coolness.

_What happened to my shoes? My stockings?_ she wondered.

Josette jumped at the sound of rustling from nearby bushes, frantically looking around for friendly signs of life. When the wolves howled, he hugged herself tightly, shivering from fear of the unknown.

_Frightened, my vixen?_ asked Georges, sardonically.

Startled, Josette searched her surroundings for Georges, but couldn't see him. "Georges? Georges! Is that you? I'm-I'm- I'm sorry for what I did to you, Bette, and Jeremiah. And I am truly sorry for my actions against Angelique and her unborn child."

When she didn't hear an answer, she appealed to him again. "Georges…if you spare my life…I-I promise that I will leave Collinwood and never be seen here again. I would never return to bother Angelique, Barnabas, or any of them at Collinwood."

Josette still heard nothing but the wolves. She began to panic, her heart rate increasing and her hands wringing in abject helplessness.

"Georges, please! Please have mercy on me and spare my life!" she begged.

Suddenly, in a whisper, he replied, _Just like you had mercy on me and spared my life? _

"I-I was angry," she stammered, wide-eyed, still looking in all directions. "I gave myself to you, and you forsook me for Angelique!"

_And what about your plans for Barnabas? Your deed against Jeremiah? Did they deserve such cruelties and betrayals?_

"I said I was sorry! What do you want from me?!" she demanded, trembling.

_What you took from me, ma cherie…your life! Ha ha hah ha hah hah!_

Suddenly a flock of crows flew out from a tree, flinging themselves at Josette as she tried to shoo them away. Terrified, she ran through the woods for her very life, stumbling and tripping over unseen objects. Her skirt and sleeves were snagged on branches from trees and thickets, but she ignored them for her safety's sake. Then she cut her foot on a sharp rock, fell to the ground crying, but couldn't tend to her wound. She had to keep going until she found help or a road where she could wave down some late-night traveler. Yet, as she ran, Georges continued to taunt her:

_No, Josette! Go this way. No, go that way!_

_ Why don't you go back to Collinwood? Don't you know your way? After all, YOU were the one that wanted to live in the big, grand mansion, remember?_

_ How much do you regret murdering me now, my vixen?! How much do you regret ALL your sins?!_

_ Don't you wish that you were in Martinique now? In a nunnery? Heh ha ha ha ha ha ha!_

_You irredeemable tramp! Look at yourself now: running through the woods, trying to escape what Fate has for you!_

_Watch your step, Josette. Y ou are injured, remember?_

Josette kept running, calling out for help and praying unheard prayers. Then, as if by a miracle, she ran into a man's cloaked back.

"Oh, thank heavens! Sir, please help me! I need to find my way back to Collinwood. I am Josette Collins, the widow of Jeremiah Collins. Joshua Collins is my kinsman. If you help me get back there, sir, I will make sure that you are handsomely rewarded!"

With his back still turned, the man replied, "Then it's a happy coincidence, Mrs. Collins, for I am too on my way home…to Collinwood."

Josette backed away from the man, suspiciously eyeing him. "H-h-home?"

"Yes, _dear_ Josette. After all, it was my home long before yours…"

He turned to her, his face illuminated by an eerie glow, recognized by Josette as the _very last person_ that she would want to run into at all.

"Good evening…my _dear_ wife!" he smirked.

"Jeremiah!" she shrieked, covering her mouth with both hands.

"Yes, Josette. It is I, Jeremiah Collins. Your husband." He closed the space in-between them. She stood stock-still, unable to move. "I suppose that when you heard that my body disappeared, that you were relieved, believing yourself safe from my wrath and…new thirst for blood. However, I told Georges how I _longed_ to see you again, so he freed me from my coffin so that we may have this little reunion."

"Jeremiah…please. Please don't…," she sobbed.

"Please what?!" he sneered.

He grabbed her by her throat in a vice-like grip, nearly cutting off her air supply. "I wonder if your blood is as gratifying as the smell of it from your injured foot. What do you think…darling?"

To Josette's horror, Jeremiah's face contorted as he bared his sharp fangs at her. He licked the side of her face, his cold tongue teasing below her jawline. Josette wanted to faint, but her body would not shut down for her to not have to see her impending death.

"Please… don't… k-k-kill me….Jeremiah! Let...me….explain!" she managed to blurt out through coughs.

He loosened his grip to hear her "explanation."

She whispered, "I-I tried t-to re-reverse the spell, b-b-but Georges-"

"Silence, you vile whore! Murderess! Georges told me what you intended to do with that spell! And don't worry, my _dear_ wife. I don't want your blood." He looked up and then looked back to her. "But he does."

He turned her to Georges, tightening his grip again.

"What shall we do with this…repulsive creature, Monsieur DuBois?" asked Jeremiah, nearly cackling.

Georges stood next to Jeremiah, arms folded, his neck naturally crooked, pondering Josette DuPres Collins' fate.

"I do remember telling Bette Roulette about tossing her over the cliff at Widow's Hill like a pile of laundry. However, I think that is a little too good for her. Too…martyr-like. And she is definitely no martyr to anyone, Monsieur Collins."

"I agree. What do you suggest?" asked Jeremiah.

Unfortunately, Josette did not hear Georges' answer, passing out from lack of oxygen.

Five or six minutes later, Josette slowly woke up, sitting against an oak tree in the darkness. Illuminated by the moon, Georges and Jeremiah were standing before her, talking.

"So will her death really free me from this dreaded curse, monsieur?" asked Jeremiah, both supernatural beings ignoring the newly-coherent Josette.

"I've never made a claim that wasn't true, monsieur. However, I think that we should get you away from here. You're starting to salivate, and you wouldn't want the taste of Josette's blood to ruin you, would you?"

"Absolutely not," answered Jeremiah, with a shake of his head.

Josette tried to move, but she couldn't. She then found that she couldn't move her arms or her legs.

"What have you done to me?" she screamed, looking up at them.

"Oh, I had to paralyze you, my dear," said Georges. "I wouldn't want the constable to mistake your death for murder if I had to tie you to this tree. It should be an…unfortunate accident that befalls you. Don't you think?"

Josette began to hyperventilate.

Don't worry, my vixen. It won't last long. At least I hope. I had never seen wolves eat in frenzy before, so I can't be sure. But before we go, do you have any last words besides a meaningless apology?" asked Georges, as Jeremiah looked on, smirking.

"Georges, you know that…you made me this way. I only wanted to be your wife. You knew…that I was the…better choice over Angelique. You didn't truly…love her. And deep down…you knew that."

Georges shook his head. "Alas, Josette, you still misunderstand, and you are still blind to your own faults. You didn't want to be my wife, not really. You only wanted to spite Angelique, and be the wife of a prosperous jeweler so that Angelique could be hurt by it every time she saw you on my arm at social gatherings, church, and so forth. You have no idea what love is, and Angelique is filled with love and compassion, something that a good husband deserves from his wife. You shouldn't have interfered the first time, Josette. And then you tried to bind Barnabas Collins to you through black magic, and cursed his uncle! Now, my vixen, you will rightly pay for your deeds against us and Angelique. _Adieu_, my one-time whore."

Georges and Jeremiah vanished before her eyes, leaving her to her solitary execution. She made a vain effort to move, but gave up, knowing that it was of no use. She was doomed, fated to a violent death by predators of the night. If only she made better choices and tried to be good and respectable young woman, but it was too late. Redemption was now closed to her. Suddenly, she heard heavy, animalistic snarling and footsteps of four-legged beasts. Cold sweat streamed down her forehead as eight pair of glowing red eyes slowly moved towards her, followed by the four, stealthy, feral wolves to whom they belonged. She couldn't catch her breath! If her knees could knock, they would. Her teeth chattered, and she felt the seat of her dress moisten from her bodily fluids. With thick strings of saliva dripping from their lower jaws, they eyed their prey with maddening hunger, forming a half-circle around her. Then, as fast as she threw Angelique's earbobs into the fire, the leader of the pack sprung at her, followed by the rest. Screams of blood-curdling horror and pain filled the night air and empty woods as Josette DuPres Collins' flesh was ripped from her body, and her blood flowed like a stream to the ground.

At the same time as Josette's demise, leading to the next morning at Collinwood, everything dire that have happened had mysteriously resolved itself. Barnabas' driver, Henry, had returned to everyone's relief. He claimed that as he was on his way to preparing the coach for travel to New York, he was caught up in a dark fog. The rest of Collinwood's servants believed that he either had a bump on his head or had drunk to a drunken stupor. However, he did not have the smell of liquor on his breath or a gash in his head. In addition to Henry's and Stella's recoveries, Naomi's ankle was completely healed as if there were no fracture at all. Ben Stokes was exonerated and freed from jail, and the fire damages to the six ships were found to be minor, but repairs were still to be made.

Hours after Josette disappeared, Barnabas returned to the Old House, dreadfully learning from Angelique everything that happened with Josette, and Georges saving her and her child's lives.

"Darling, Angelique! I am so glad that he was here in time to rescue you and our child from Josette's attempt on your lives," he said, holding her in his arm. "I wouldn't know what to do if she would have murdered the both of you."

"You would have hunted her down in revenge," said Angelique, holding him as desperately as he was holding her. She was comforted by his concern for his family's well-being.

"To the ends of the earth," he replied. He pulled her from his embrace to look at her. "I'm just glad that you and the child are safe, and that things have been restored in Collinwood and in our business." Then he grew silent. "And most likely, due to Josette's possible demise."

"Do you think that she's really…dead?" asked Angelique, walking over to their bedroom window. Barnabas followed after her.

"My dear, please believe me. I am not insensitive to whatever happened to Josette, but I am relieved for all of our sakes. Despite everything, I understand that she _was_ your sister. You two grew up together in the same household despite your relationship."

Angelique nodded, looking out into the darkness. "I believe you, Barnabas. I know that you're not…_celebrating_ her possible fate. And for all that she's done, I wouldn't have wished for her death."

As soon as the wolves howled, Angelique hugged herself, shivering. Barnabas held her in comfort.

"What is it, Angelique?" he asked, observing her manner.

She turned to him, visibly shaken.

"She's dead…she's d-dead, Barnabas. I can feel it in my bones that she is dead, and yet…I am relived. I'm…I'm relieved! My sister is dead, and I'm relieved!"

Angelique burst into tears, and clung to Barnabas as if her survival depended on it. He held her tight, trying to soothe her pain. Barnabas didn't think that Josette's fate would have such an effect on Angelique. Yes, the sisters did not get along, but he guessed that deep down, Angelique _genuinely_ loved Josette.

The next afternoon, Barnabas and Angelique were urgently summoned to the main house. As soon as they entered, Naomi rushed happily towards them, hugging and kissing the bewildered couple on their cheeks.

"Mother, what is it?" asked Barnabas, glad to see his mother walking and in high spirits, without the help of a strong drink.

"Jeremiah is alive, children! It's a miracle. Jeremiah was never dead!"

Barnabas and Angelique looked at each other. Could it be true? Has Georges kept his promise in restoring Jeremiah back to himself and to his family?

"How, Mother?" inquired Barnabas.

"Some of our servants were out to chop firewood, and they found him, passed out in the woods nearby," explained Naomi, excited. "They said that he was delirious, kept saying that he was free from some curse. He probably meant 'coffin' and his captors. He probably escaped them when they weren't around. Your father had alerted the constable to this blessed event, and sent for the doctor to examine your uncle. Oh, this is just the most wonderful news that ever reached Collinwood! Besides your father and I becoming grandparents, that is."

"And Josette? How did she react?" asked Angelique, hoping that Josette was somehow still alive.

Naomi's mood dampened. "Well, that was the other reason why you were summoned, Angelique. We're afraid that, or rather, _I'm_ afraid that Josette is missing."

Barnabas' eyebrow cocked. "Are you that she just didn't leave Collinwood of her own will, Mother?" he asked for Angelique's sake.

"Her clothes and belongings are still here. Begging your pardon, Angelique dear, but you know that Josette did not make it easier for any of us to…really like her, but Joshua did send men to find her. She's been missing ever since she left to visit you. Did she say where she was going?"

Again, Barnabas and Angelique glanced at each other, with knowing looks.

"No, madam. We had another disagreement, and she stormed out of the house," lied Angelique, unintentionally.

"Well, I hope that for your sake that she is well," said Naomi, smiling in assurance. "I'm going to go back upstairs to Jeremiah's room—Angelique, dear, are you alright?"

Angelique had her hand over her chest, trying to contain her anxiety, while Barnabas held her up. "I just need to sit down, Naomi, that's all. All these news…"

"Barnabas, help your wife into the drawing room. I'll fetch her some water."

After Naomi and Barnabas helped Angelique to the settee, and Naomi left for the water, Barnabas asked, "Are you sure that I shouldn't bring the doctor to you?"

"I'm fine, Barnabas. It's just…Jeremiah is back with us, alive and human, but at the cost of Josette's life. They may not know it, but we know that she is dead. She wouldn't go anywhere without her belongings."

"Mr. Barnabas, sir!"

Ben flew into the house, panicked and panting. Concerned as his wife was at Ben's entrance, Barnabas stood up. "What is it, Ben?"

After Ben acknowledged Angelique, he drew Barnabas to the side and whispered to him his urgent message. Angelique noticed that Barnabas looked alarm.

"Wait for me outside, Ben," said Barnabas. Ben did as he was told.

Angelique stood up from the settee. "That was about Josette, wasn't it?"

Barnabas turned to her. "Yes. They found her…her body in the woods. Ravished by wolves, Ben said. I'm going with him to retrieve the body immediately, Angelique, and then I'll make arrangements for a funeral as soon as possible. I am sorry, my dear."

Angelique nodded. There was no need to carry on with tears for she cried them last night. She knew that Josette was dead, but to have it confirmed…How was she going to explain her actions and death to their father and aunt? They don't write to her although they do ask of Josette (their father refers to her as "she" while Natalie asks of Josette by name).

"Are you alright, Angelique?" asked Barnabas, bringing her out of her thoughts.

"Yes. I'm fine. Go ahead. I'll…inform the family when I go upstairs. I won't tell them in front of Jeremiah. He's been through enough for a lifetime."

"Very well. I will return as soon as possible," he said, kissing her cheek and then leaving.

After Barnabas left, Angelique sat down, reeling in sudden guilt. She knew that Josette hated her, and had nearly tried to kill her and her unborn child, but she only wanted for Josette to leave Collinwood, and to start a new and happy life for herself. Now, she was dead, and Angelique has to bear the burden of telling their family. How would she tell them? What _could _she tell them?

Reading her thoughts, a familiar voice answered, _You should tell them that it was only an accident, ma ange._

Angelique's head snapped to the drawing room doors to see Georges leaning by on one of them, with his head literally on straight, gazing upon his former fiancée.

Angelique slowly stood, gaping at him. "Georges…"

"I hope you're not going to scream again, _cherie_. I would really like to talk to you before I leave you for good. Besides, my duty here is done," he said, entering the room as if he was flesh and bone.

"I won't scream this time, Georges," she said, facing him straight on, "and I agree that we _really_ do need to talk. Why couldn't you spare her? Why didn't you send her away to somewhere else or make her go? You didn't have to kill her!"

"Would you prefer that you and your unborn child die instead?" he demanded.

"No, but she was my sister, Georges, and I did love her in spite of myself."

"That's only your guilt speaking for you, Angelique."

"I'm not glad she's dead!"

"I know, _ma ange_, but she did not love you. Not even as much as you love her now. She would have tried again even if she was banished from Collinwood. And you know that for a fact in the depths of your soul."

Angelique sighed. "I suppose you're right, but I still wished that there was another alternative to her fate."

He cocked his eyebrow. "You want to ask me about my affair with her, don't you?"

"It doesn't matter now, does it?" she asked, staring at him.

"You might as well, my dear," he answered.

Looking him in the eye, she asked, "Why her? Did you love her? Would you have married me if Aunt Natalie had never caught you with Josette?"

He shrugged. "Honestly…I cannot say."

"_You cannot say?_" questioned Angelique, her eyes burrowing through the ghost.

"Well, all things considered…I don't think that I would have been able to stop myself."

"You loved her!" she accused.

"No, I did not!" he retorted. "I didn't love her, but without the countess' interference, I…don't know if I would have stopped my trysts with Josette. My lust for her was a force to be reckoned with."

Angelique shook her head in disbelief. "So, you would have married me out of guil,t and carried on with my sister?! You never really loved me, did you? I'm glad that we never married, not that I relish your demise now, but I wouldn't had married you if I knew that this...tryst, as you called it, was carrying on into our marriage."

"I know, and I am truly sorry, Angelique. You're right. I didn't love you as much as I proclaimed. However, Barnabas loves you, more than me and Jeremiah put together. You know, I kind of admire him. For all of his arrogance and manipulations, he is actually a decent gentleman. I admit that his plan to have you before my interference was…vulgar, but he did so out of love for you. He even admitted it to you and me."

"I know, Georges, and I adore him for his love and devotion for me. Yet, when he chose Josette to marry, I envied her for it."

"Would you have become his mistress if I didn't interfere?"

Angelique was silent. She believed that she loved Jeremiah at the time, but if she could have had the chance to lie with Barnabas, to only spite Josette…

"Yes," she answered, "I would have done so for revenge against her for everything she's done to me during our childhood and the way she mocked us after your death."

"I'm glad you're honest, my dear. And I'm glad that we were able to clear the air about our situations. You love Barnabas, do you?"

Angelique lowered her eyes. "I…I….I do love him, but I can't…I'm unable to tell him."

"Why?" he asked, curious.

"Maybe it's because of how we married and the scandals behind it and-"

"Your guilt over wanting him and not really wanting Jeremiah?"

He read her absolute thoughts! She could only nod.

"Well, I won't press you on this matter of the heart with Barnabas Collins. However, you could both keep him in suspense and make him think that you don't want him, or you could move far from the past and memories, and love him as a wife should. You deserve happiness with him, Angelique, and he deserves your love. Tell him, but don't deprive him of an answer forever. Be happy with him, and assure him of his happiness with you. _Adieu, _Madame Collins."

"Adieu, Monsieur DuBois."

Georges disappeared into the air like smoke. Angelique, wiping a stray tear from her eye, made her way upstairs to see Jeremiah and to reveal Josette's death to the Joshua and Naomi, with much food for thought in mind concerning her feelings for Barnabas.

****I wish this was Halloween already for Josette's death scene, but we are about a week away from it, right? Thanks again for the comments, favorites, and follows. Tune in next week for the romantic conclusion of _A Tale of Two Sisters_ :)


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